Healthbook
Healthbook
We are happy to release the Yerba Buena Acupuncture Health Workbook, A Practical Guide to
Health. The ideas, suggestions, and exercises in this book represent our cumulative experience
with clients. These are the exercises and recommendations we often give our clients and
constitute our basic view on health and healing.
This book may not seem like your typical “practical guide.” There are many books on the
market discussing the mechanics of health in terms of nutrition, supplements, physical exercise,
etc. These are generally thought of as “practical guides.” Because we see the mind as the
primary source of healthy living we have concentrated our efforts on creating practical exercises
to develop healthy habits in the arena of the mind. We believe that true health is the state of
finding one’s true calling in life and learning the lessons offered us along the path. The purpose
of this book is to help remind us of ways by which we can allow our spirits to shine.
The views expressed in this book are our own, yet they are based on transmissions from various
traditions. We are grateful to our teachers of philosophical traditions, Buddhist, Jewish, and
Taoist and to our medical mentors of the Japanese as well as Chinese traditions. We are
especially grateful to our clients who teach us how to look at life’s mysteries, how to accept that
the unusual is commonly the norm in medicine, how to reflect on our own lives, and most
significantly, time and time again you have taught us humility.
Many of the Chinese terms used in this book also have common western use. In some cases, the two represent the
same understanding, and in some there is no match. For example, in the West we have an organ named the spleen
and that same name is used to identify an organ which the Chinese call the Spleen. The Chinese Spleen is an organ
of the digestive system producing Blood and also transforms and transports Fluids (perhaps akin to the lymph
system). The Western spleen has nothing to do with digestion. To distinguish the Chinese organs and terms from
the standard western ones, we capitalized the term whenever we refer to the Chinese rather than the Western
understanding of it. Thus you will find familiar words such as Blood, Phlegm, Dampness, Wind, etc., capitalized
mid-sentence. This should alert you that we are referring to something that might not correspond to the standard
Western cultural use of those terms.
We are the third generation raised on processed foods. We live in non-natural environments.
We breathe air that is highly polluted both chemically and electromagnetically. We constantly
need to adjust to the ever-changing demands of the Global Village economy where today’s news
becomes ancient history by tomorrow. This induces much stress and anxiety. In this
environment we cannot possibly expect to take our health for granted. That would be akin to
driving a car across the Sahara desert without ever checking the oil.
If we want to be healthy we need to examine what health means to us and how we are going to
become healthy. Wishful thinking, idealized states, and indulgence will not get us health.
Changes in lifestyle, discipline and some sacrifice might.
Some very gravely ill people radiate an energy that is quite incredible. They seem to be better
adjusted, happier, and full of purpose, more so than many people we would define as “healthy”.
At the same time we know of young people who seem to have strong bodies, yet they are sunk in
depression, addictions, fatigue, etc. It would be hard to describe them as healthy.
More than anything, health is dependent on a frame of mind, on an attitude that promotes
happiness and acceptance. It is a mental, emotional and spiritual state that allows us to create
goals in our lives and to pursue them. Seen from this perspective, the dying cancer patient can
still be spiritually healthy. If a person can be happy and find meaning in life, then even though
his or her body is deteriorating, that person has something we must acknowledge is strongly
connected to health.
In some people whose body is barely functioning we may see the soul truly shines. It is as if the
weakening of the body has given freedom to the spirit/soul, and the light of the soul flickers as
the body reaches its limit. It is tragic that we reach such full devastation before we wake up to
the full meaning of life. Can our spirit/soul shine while maintaining a strong physical body?
Can our light shine throughout the duration of our lifetime? We believe it can, and the purpose
of this book is to explore how we might achieve that state.
Much of this book is dedicated to the idea of training our minds in order to achieve and sustain
health. Any action we take for the sake of health be it changing our diet, exercising, or
meditating, must involve our mind and our will.
Defining Health
If we were to try and define health in one word we would use the word “flow”. Our health is
related to our ability to keep flowing, open, unobstructed, both in our bodies and in our minds.
We can define health as the ability to maintain an openness, the ability to cultivate spaciousness,
and to always move toward new possibilities, even in times of great pain and suffering. In this
sense, health can be seen as the ability to keep the flow of life, and to transform our pain and
suffering, rather than to dwell in them.
It is this idea of smooth flow that is the basis of acupuncture and all other forms of Oriental
medicine. For the Chinese, to be healthy is to flow, like a river. When the river flows at a good
pace, the water is clear. When the flow slows down, the water gets murky, and if there is a
blockage, the river becomes a swamp.
This idea of flow determines our health both emotionally and physically. The key to health is to
prevent emotional and physical constipation.
Anxiety, obsession, stress, fear, anger, doubt and guilt all tend to congest us. When we are
caught in those feelings we tend to forget the possibilities of other, more pleasant, feelings. Our
bodies react with sleeping, digestive, and circulatory problems, a response to the emotional
blockage. Physically, these negative emotions create a sympathetic dominance response which,
when over-activated, is a cause of many modern age diseases.
When we let these negative emotions take hold of us, the emotional flow becomes obstructed. It
is natural to experience these emotions, but the moment they take hold rather than flow in and
out, we are caught in an emotional state, and we lose the freedom to experience the full range of
life.
The Chinese talk of the “bowels” as not just the large intestine, but also as the stomach, gall
bladder, small intestine, urinary bladder, and an organ they call the Triple Burner, which can be
thought of as the totality of the metabolic process, and also as the lymphatic system. Keeping
the bowels open means keeping the assimilation and elimination processes unobstructed so as to
prevent accumulation of metabolic and toxic byproducts. We can accomplish this by eating
more vegetables, especially root vegetables, and less processed, starchy, fatty foods.
Keeping the breath open means breathing deeply, evenly, and consciously. The food we eat can
only be converted into useful energy if it is combusted, a process that requires air. Every cell of
our body requires taking oxygen and eliminating carbon dioxide. This is a process that involves
the lungs and the nose. The more fully we breathe the better the circulation of oxygen and the
elimination of toxins. Keeping the nasal passages clear is important because the air we breathe
passes through the nasal cavities.
Keeping the joints open refers to all the joints, ensuring appropriate circulation through mild
exercise and stretching. Blockage and stiffness of the major joints (shoulders and hips) can
cause circulatory problems in the abdomen, affecting the organs and creating pathologies, and
has also been linked to high blood pressure.
Many people find strenuous exercise to be helpful with coping with stress. The exercise allows
for the sympathetic (fight or flight) response to be resolved. However, it does not take care of
our feelings. And so we get into a cycle of stress and exercise as a coping mechanism. We need
to develop a strategy of calming our feelings, of nourishing our souls with what is wonderful in
the world (like the sunset, the blue sky, the trees, the smile of a friend, whatever is precious to
you). We need to be reminded of other feelings, so that the stressful feelings become less
dominant, and the physiological response can be prevented.
There are no set guidelines that are guaranteed to work. Ultimately you are the judge of what
methods work for you. You are the laboratory of your own life. Ultimately, you must try out
any health advice before you know whether it is helpful for your particular circumstances or not.
That is also the good news: there is always more that we can discover about ourselves, about our
health, about where we are going and how to get there. It is to try and help you in this exciting
journey that we compiled the Yerba Buena Guidelines for Health. Keep in mind that they are
merely guidelines, ultimately you must judge their efficacy in your life. We would love to hear
from you and learn from your experiences.
Yin Yang
The very first concept of Chinese thought is that of Yin Yang. It is a concept found in all
Chinese thought not just medical understanding. It is about the ever-flowing process of life, the
going through cycles, and the ever-changing flow that ultimately is of one nature, of one source.
Yang is the aspect of life that is moving, active, bright, and light, while Yin represents rest,
darkness, hidden. Life always oscillates between the two. Everything contains within it various
degrees of Yin Yang and is always in flux and changing between these two opposites. Yin and
Yang complement each other, one cannot be without the other: from the depth of the night, day
breaks; at the height of summer, the days begin to shorten, announcing the inevitability of winter.
Generally our life is about being Yang, being active, moving towards the light (after all, it is
much more fun to go out dancing than to sleep all day), but that must be balanced by Yin: rest,
calmness, relaxation.
Obviously, these sages are seen as an ideal. Yet, already in the Chinese classics it is recognized
that most people do not live in complete harmony with nature, or in accordance with what is best
for them. Our shortcomings should not stop us from aspiring to a more harmonious way of life;
we can simply acknowledge them, eliminate them when possible, accept them when not, and
move on to the best of our abilities.
The Meridians
Another description of the flow of human life can be gleaned by looking at the channels of
acupuncture. The location of the channels and their role, and the roles ascribed to their
corresponding organs, show us what human life’s energies are like.
The Stomach channel moves through all the openings in the face: nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and
then goes to the brain. (It then goes down to the stomach and down the leg.) This is to
emphasize the notion that life is about interacting with the world and bringing it to our
consciousness. Much like we do with the food we digest, we take in our experiences and make
them a part of us.
The Heart and Pericardium channels show us the importance of expression through creativity.
The Heart channel has very few points, and most of them are concentrated around the wrist, the
wrist being the metaphor for calligraphy, or artistic or academic expression and communication.
Another branch goes up to the tongue and the eye. With the tongue we speak and eat, while the
eyes see the world and express our feelings. This connection emphasizes the importance of
being open to the world and maintaining an open heart.
The Kidneys are considered to store our innermost energies, those inherited from our ancestors,
somewhat akin to our concept of inherited DNA. Much like a DNA chain, the Kidney channel
curls and winds, making loops, going back over itself. Starting at the sole of the foot, its every
manifestation is a statement of secrecy, innermost activity which must be guarded and preserved.
This is the true self, the person that we know we really are. Regardless of any of our actions,
games, failures, there is always a core that is the true self. That core is represented in the form of
the spiral of the Kidney channel.
The Liver is the organ which acts both to store the blood, meaning our nourishment, and is
responsible for smooth flow of energy (from the Western perspective the liver is also a very
vascular organ, and stores glycogen, our sugar reserves). The one emotion that immediately and
without fail congests and blocks our flow is anger, and anger is associated with the Liver. The
Liver channel climbs up the leg, faster than any other channel – it is the channel of action, of
initiation. It controls the two areas where most people have the most blockages: the genitals and
the diaphragm (representing the heart). For the ancient Chinese the Liver channel represents
where blockages are most likely to occur, and the emotion most likely to cause them.
We see from the description of the channels that the Chinese clearly see our life’s purpose as
interacting with the world, making contact, exploring, but without excessive attachment, always
allowing things to come and go. Always remembering one’s own core, not as separate but as
part of the vast ocean of life ever flowing (Kidneys are associated with the Water element). A
strong reminder of what obstructs the flow of life is stated in the channel system also. For the
Chinese it is no use to talk about how things should be without acknowledging what messes
things up, what our obstacles are.
Chinese dietetics is a vast field. What we can learn from its principles is that cold foods can
damage the digestive system. Cold foods are considered raw foods as well as those that have a
cold temperature. The Chinese see the digestive system as an oven, and if we eat cold foods in
excess, the “oven” begins to cool down. Unlike our kitchen oven, our digestive oven has no
power supply besides what we eat. If what we eat demands more energy than it can supply, we
end up weakening the digestive system. Americans tend to drink ice cold drinks and eat lots of
raw salads. It is better to drink warm water (or tea) and to steam vegetables slightly (though not
to the point of loosing all nutritional and taste value). Ginger and fennel are both warming
digestive spices that can aid in restoring the “digestive fire”. Note that hot and spicy food such
as curries and chilies are too hot in the Chinese sense. They disperse the Qi and deplete our
energy.
Pathology
All Chinese medical thought is based on observing, analyzing, and anticipating the progression
of the disease. The Chinese physician wants to not only treat the current stage of the disease, but
to understand how it has developed and what the next stage might be. Thus various schools of
thought have risen looking at what happens when a specific factor “invades” the body.
The Chinese concept of etiology and pathology consists of external climatic factors, the
emotions, diet, exhaustion, injuries and insect bites, and blockages. The excess of any particular
emotion blocks the Heart, that is, it does not allow us to experience life fully. Each emotion
affects the flow of Qi (life force energy) in a particular way, but they all cause a dysfunction in
the flow, and thus disrupt the life process.
Most unusual to the western mind is the concept of the climatic factors as causes of disease. On
the physical level we can see that cold contracts and thus causes blockages and pain. Heat
involves signs of redness, fever, rashes and bleeding. Dampness causes heaviness, while dryness
is a depletion of fluids. Symptoms that are characterized by wind, are those which move around
and are not constant, just like wind in nature. But on a deeper level, these factors can be seen as
more than metaphors for our symptoms; they can be metaphors for what is wrong in our lives.
Wind is synonymous with change. Wind is said to be the “spearhead of all disease”. This means
that our inability to change, the inability to let go of the past and of expectations, makes us stiff
and unwilling to adjust. Our inability to adjust to our circumstances creates disharmony between
Cold slows us down, it prevents us from living life fully, from moving forward with zest and
enthusiasm. Cold is the antithesis of Yang, the force of life. The character for cold (Han)
consists of the pictograms for person, a dividing line, a field, and tears, meaning that cold
separates the person from their field of work, and that this separation from our life task results in
tears. The first school of systematic classification of disease had assumed cold to be the primary
cause of disease.
Heat is thought of as accelerating the body, speeding up the process of life. When we are
anxious to move forward and we move too fast, we develop heat signs. This is very common in
today’s fast paced culture. We feel that we need to be more active, to accomplish more, to
compete more successfully; we are always engaged. The problem is that this excess Yang
activity will eventually deplete the Yin. In modern terms it translates to getting many colds,
depleting our immune system, depleting our adrenals, weakening our livers, and developing all
sorts of inflammatory conditions, including many autoimmune diseases. The best remedy for
Heat is to slow life down, to “preserve the Yin” as the Chinese would say.
Dampness also slows us down, but in a different way than cold. In a damp condition it is as if
we cannot connect fully, as if there were a veil between two parts that need to connect – this is
phlegm. Doubt and hesitation create this condition. In our daily lives we are faced with so many
decisions we need to make and we are often left with great doubt, about our careers, our goals,
our friendships, etc. Doubt is having two voices in us, so that we cannot take a full step forward
and we are being pulled back at the same time. We hear doubt constantly either from the outside
world or internally. Doubt activates the sympathetic chain: the adrenals, pituitary, and thyroid, it
pumps insulin, depletes glycogen and produces lactic acid. These reactions produce metabolic
toxic products. The lymph system is then activated to clear the toxins out. This is when we get
cold-like symptoms: sweating, nausea, aches, and we experience anxiety, worry and fear. With
constant doubt, expectations, and denial, we keep accumulating toxic byproducts, eventually
creating a “swamp”. The swamp is Dampness. Eventually this swampy, unclear, situation will
become a named disease, perhaps a cancer. To overcome Dampness we need to learn to be in
the moment, to let go of doubt and expectation, to recognize that fear is not about the here-and-
now, but an anticipation of the future which has not yet come.
Organ Diagnosis
Nowadays the most common diagnostic method is evaluating the state of the organs. The
Chinese concept of the organ does not always match the western understanding. For example,
the Western spleen is not connected to digestion, while the Chinese Spleen is the chief organ of
digestion. Each organ is responsible for various life functions and the flow of Qi (energy life-
force). The practitioner evaluates the state of energy (Qi) and Blood (similar to its Western
counterpart, Blood is considered a nourishing form of energy as well as a substance), the
direction of flow, excess and deficiencies, and the presence of a climatic factor in the organ’s
sphere of influence.
The Yerba Buena Acupuncture Health Workbook page 9
Thus from the Chinese perspective one might be diagnosed as having Lung Qi Deficiency, Liver
Qi Stagnation, or Dampness in the Spleen. There are numerous patterns of such kind, and any
given person may have one or more of them in combination.
Two of the most common diagnosis are Liver Qi Congestion and Blood Deficiency. This is
because we live in highly stressful environments which prevent the free flow of Qi and end up in
a congestion, and the fast pace of our lives is considered to “burn up” the Blood, resulting in a
Blood Deficiency. At the risk of greatly over-simplifying we can say that these might be seen as
nervous disorders, and adrenal exhaustion in Western terms.
The Chinese view of health is complex in that it looks at the full process of human life, not at
just at the symptoms that bother one at this particular moment. Any symptom can usually be
seen as a link in a chain of events, not as an independent factor. Yet, this view is also very basic
and simple, but like most basic and simple truths, its practice takes strength, courage, and
patience.
We have all heard friends tell us how wonderful their latest diet was, how they lost weight and
felt energetic, slept beautifully, and transformed their lives. Yet, when we tried the exact same
diet, we might have felt lethargic and depressed, perhaps even got sick. The point is that we
each have a unique biochemistry; we are basically the same, yet different. We each metabolize
nutrients slightly differently, we need slightly different proportions and combinations of different
nutrients, require some while rejecting others. Some people seem to thrive on high protein diets,
while others seem to need diets high in complex carbohydrates (and this is just one “simple”
issue). Take as much advice as you possibly can, but beware that your own body may not be the
body-type that the particular advice was meant for. When it comes to your diet, do not rely on
other people’s dogmas except as possible guidelines. Ultimately it is you who has to decide
what is the best diet for you.
Nutrition is one of the most important and basic factors on the road to health. Unfortunately it is
the hardest lifestyle change to implement. We use food not only for bodily nourishment but for
emotional as well as social comfort. When you decide on the changes you want to make, be
reasonable. Remember that there will still be birthday parties, dinners out with friends,
frustrating afternoons at work, and lonely evenings. Do not assume you can overcome all
temptations. Moderation is by far preferred to “cutting it all out”. Studies show that 97% of
people who loose weight on weight loss programs gain back the weight within 5 years. This is
partially because it is impossible to be always “perfect”; we need to find the middle way. Coffee
may be bad for you, but an occasional cup of coffee (less than once a day is occasional) is
probably healthier than spending a lifetime in frustration.
We do not believe that all gut syndromes are caused by parasites. We do, however, believe that
our diets must allow for gut integrity. In conventional terms this means less fat (which digests
slowly) and more fiber. You want to consume foods that are readily available for absorption.
This means either slightly cooking food rather than consuming it raw, or juicing it. When eating
raw foods, add ginger or fennel to it. Foods like wheat and dairy are phlegm producing (as well
as highly allergenic) and thus create bowel obstructions (though they may not cause constipation,
the phlegm does stick to the intestinal walls, hindering absorption). Meat products have a slow
intestinal transit time and thus create obstructions. Pesticides and hormones, beside being
carcinogenic, are substances that are not easily digested: they can create intestinal obstructions,
promote leaky gut, and overload the liver detoxifying function.
Dark leafy greens both nourish the blood and decongest the Liver. Dark leafy greens include
kale, chard, spinach, collard greens, mustard greens, as well broccoli (though it is not a leaf).
Lettuce is not a dark leafy green! For the purpose of decongesting the liver and detoxifying,
dandelion greens are considered to be the best. Root vegetables both nourish the blood and
lightly promote peristalsis, thus they help keep the bowels open. These include leaks, carrots,
beets, onions, turnips, parsnips, kholoraby, etc. We like to recommend chlorophyll as a
nutritional supplement on a regular basis. Chlorophyll is basically plant blood and is a very good
blood nourisher.
These habits have been deeply engrained in us from a very early age. Think of the type of meals
that were served at your school lunchroom. It is no wonder that kids want their coke and
Snickers bar after lunch. Without sugar and caffeine they don’t feel energetic enough to play
baseball. And we carry these habits with us to our work places, except that as adults we
compound the problem with alcohol and even more sugar as psychological “protectors” against
anger, loneliness, boredom, etc.
Sugar Metabolism
Sugar is the basic energy unit for all body cells. Ultimately our energy needs are based on
simple glucose. While we require glucose for every single function, the body has a complicated
feedback mechanism to ensure correct blood sugar levels. This mechanism involves the brain,
the pancreas, the liver, the adrenals and the thyroid. Because every cell requires sugar as energy,
every system in our body is dependent on sugar levels. Too much sugar in the blood
(hyperglycemia) basically makes the blood too thick and sluggish, it promotes secretion of
insulin and can result in symptoms such as fatigue, thirst, hunger, blurry vision, shortness of
breath, nausea. Over the long-term one may get dry mouth and skin, excessive urination, weight
loss, atherosclerosis, and coma. Too low a level of blood glucose (hypoglycemia) means our
energy needs are not being met, liver glycogen is broken down, and we get symptoms such as
fatigue, weakness, nervousness, sweating, hunger, dizziness, confusion, headaches, tremors and
fainting.
Too much readily available sugar will result in temporary hyperglycemia. Insulin will be
released, the glucose in the blood will be metabolized faster by the body cells (creating a faster
rate of metabolic waste production), and unless there is new consumption of sugar, the body now
becomes hypoglycemic (low on sugar). The result of eating too much sugar is that we always
move between hyper- and hypo-glycemia. Long term, these “erratic” swings will eventually
confuse our adrenal, liver, pancreas axis and affect the autonomic nervous system.
How do we identify complex carbohydrates? Those are carbohydrates (grains mostly) which
will not turn sweet when you chew on them. When you chew simple carbohydrates and
masticate them well, the saliva in our mouth breaks down the carbohydrate chains and you can
rather rapidly feel a sweet taste in your mouth. Complex carbohydrates will give you only a
tinge of sweetness.
It is extremely important to correct a sugar imbalance. It can be the main contributing factor to
fatigue, depression, mood swings, immune problems, and allergies. It is our belief that most
people suffer from a sugar imbalance due to bad dietary habits. Before addressing any other
problem, the sugar imbalance must be addressed. There are techniques for balancing sugar
metabolism using acupuncture and other modalities; however, the bottom line correction needs
to be done through your own diet. While still in the correction phase you will be asked to go on
a very strict diet, once your body no longer reacts as badly to sugar, you can begin to enjoy some
simple carbohydrates as long as they are buffered with other foods (in other words do no have
sugar on an empty stomach).
The notion of natural sugar and white sugar is a misleading concept. What matters is the
availability and concentration of sugar. Plain white sugar is nothing but sugar, it contains no
fiber, no protein, nothing that might slow sugar absorption, so you get a big bang of high blood
glucose. Fruit is fine because of its high fiber content, and because it contains other
carbohydrates as well. We therefore do not advise people to abstain from fruit or natural fruit
juices as long as no extra sugar was added.
Eating protein for breakfast helps counter fatigue in the afternoon. We recommend eating your
protein at breakfast and at lunch, rather than at night.
Though some meats are considered lean, meat, including poultry, in most places is laced with
antibiotics and growth hormones. Even if you do get organic meat, you are still getting the toxic
metabolites that are released when an animal encounters the fear of slaughter. Animal products
(including dairy and eggs) have a slower intestinal transit time, and are much more complex
foods which, biochemically, require greater breakdown producing far more waste products
which then circulate in our system. Animal products, fat content aside, are simply not clean for
our system.
On the other hand, over-cooking results in the destruction of enzymes in the food. If we quickly
stir-fry or steam vegetables, they will not loose their nutritional value. Juicing is a compromise
between raw and cooked foods. The juice is raw, thus enzymatic, but it has plenty of surface
space, thus easily digested. Juice-only diets are not recommended, except for detoxification
purposes.
Water
Water constitutes 70% of our body. We also use water as our cleansing and flushing mechanism.
Clearly we need to replenish our water constantly. Many people are borderline dehydrated, but
do not realize it even if they suffer from dryness, or constipation. Daily consumption of 2-3
quarts of water (8-12 cups) is recommended. This amount refers to water, not any liquid. You
would not flush your toilet with coke or coffee, why would you do it to your body? The water
you drink should be either spring water or purified. This is especially important for people with
compromised immune systems.
Every so often we get a client who loves taking vitamins and whose problem seems to be
resolved with our “mineral treatment”, a combination of acupuncture points designed for people
with mineral imbalances. This is not to say that supplements cannot be useful. There are
certainly times when we want to boost our immune response with vitamin C, help detoxification
through use of anti-oxidants, clear inflammation with vitamin A, or simply get a tonic boost. We
recommend that you use supplements for no more than 3 weeks out of every 4, preferably
rotating your supplements, using one group one week, another the next. This system of
alternation acts as insurance against adverse side effects and eliminates the possibility of our
body getting so used to supplements that it stops utilizing food. There are certainly cases where
the use of supplements needs to be prolonged (3 months to no more than a year) for specific
purposes. But daily use simply so as to feel that we are doing something to be healthy can
actually result in damage. (We hold the same view even on the use of Chinese herbals such as
ginseng based products.)
Remember:
• There is no ideal diet. You need to experiment to find what works best for you.
• We eat to live, not the other way around!
It may seem like there is nothing out there to eat, but a trip to the bulk and vegetable sections
at a health food store such as Rainbow, Real Food, or Whole Foods, will reveal a large
variety of legumes, seaweeds, grains, and vegetables, that you may have never even
imagined existed.
Stop Intoxication
It may sound obvious, nonetheless it is worth noting that one cannot detoxify if one continues to
ingest toxins. If you continue to consume sugar, wheat, fats, etc., any of the steps you take
toward detoxification will ultimately fail. Some people feel that they are detoxifying only
alcohol or nicotine, and thus can still eat other poisons. This is not true. You do not need a
detoxification program in order to get over an addiction, though a detoxification program can be
useful, and some elements of this program are included in our advice on handling cravings and
addictions. Every time you introduce a toxin, you are countering the detoxifying process that
you have worked so hard to accomplish.
Throughout all phases take vitamin B-complex supplements, acidophilus, and flaxseed oil. Also
drink mung bean and bean sprout water (that is water in which the beans had been soaking).
Take enzymes between meals (they are not used as digestive aids). The dosage is 200X to 300X
2-3 times daily. Take those with acidophilus. Pancreatic enzymes are animal derived. You may
use chlorophyll drinks instead of enzyme supplements.
Practice some form of breathing exercises – Qi Gong, Yoga, etc. to increase the lungs
detoxification rate.
This regimen demonstrates the principle of keeping the bowels open by avoiding sticky foods,
and its high fiber content. It allows for easy digestion by ensuring lots of enzymatic action. The
raw foods that are consumed are enzymatic but they are taken in the form of juice which is easier
to digest and also nourishes the blood.
The enemas and baths are methods of encouraging toxins out of the body. Dandelion greens,
parsley and Wheatgrass are all excellent detoxifiers. Carrots and apples nourish the blood while
still keeping the bowels open.
While lifting weights (i.e., non-aerobic exercise) will do the job on the stress reduction front, it is
not useful as a pulmonary-cardiac tonic. Aerobic exercise is. In Chinese medical understanding
it is said that heavy weight lifting damages the Kidneys, which means it stresses the bones, and
can create a deep seated weakness (one sees this with super-heavy weight lifters with sexual
dysfunction). There is nothing natural in lifting many pounds of weights in order to get beautiful
muscles. If you really enjoy weight lifting, be sure to do it in moderation (preferably “strength-
training” style), and always combine it with an aerobic workout and stretching.
We believe that the best form of exercise is that which you enjoy, be it social, solitary, a sport, or
a meditation. Ultimately, you will not persist in an activity unless you enjoy it. Of course, some
discipline is required. You may feel too lazy to start your exercise program on any given day,
but most days you should feel quite happy that you went through with it, both physically and
mentally.
Aerobic exercise for about 30 minutes 3 times a week is appropriate, if you still keep some
activity on the other days. It is recommended that you exercise at about 75% of your maximum
heart rate for 15 to 20 minutes. Never exceed 85% of your maximal heart rate. Maximum heart
rate is determined by subtracting your age from 220. For example, for a 40-year-old person the
maximum heart rate is 180 (220 – 40 = 180) and the exercise rate is 135 (75% of 180). Thus our
40-year-old person should exercise for about 15 to 20 minutes so that their heart rate is at 125 to
145 beats per minute (70-80%), and ensuring it does not exceed 153 (85% of 180).
Be sure to warm up before plunging into your cardiovascular routine. Activate the joints and the
muscles, stretch, and then start your activity slowly, building up speed and increasing the heart
rate gradually.
From a cardiovascular point of view it makes no difference what form of exercise you do,
swimming, running, stairmaster, rowing, etc. However, from the perspective of exercising the
fullest range of muscles, and avoiding injuries, some exercise forms are better than others. By
far the best is swimming. This is because it is a non-weight-bearing form of exercise that
minimizes muscular strain and injury possibilities. Swimming uses the fullest range of body
If you cannot incorporate swimming into your exercise routine, try to at least rotate your routine
during the week. If you only run (and not on cement, we hope), not only are you only
developing your leg muscles without addressing other large muscle groups, but you are more
likely to develop hip, knee, and ankle problems because of the uneven stress. The gyms are full
of all sorts of fascinating cardiovascular machines that can help you work out your lats, pecs,
abdominals, as well as hamstrings and quads while getting your heart to pump. Most group
sports (basketball, volleyball, etc.) also use a wider variety of muscles even though running is
often emphasized. Beware of the one-sided overuse and twisting involved in tennis and golf.
Stretching is an important part of your exercise program. Many injuries can occur because of
lack of warm up which includes activating the joints and muscles, or because of lack of
stretching after the exercise period is over. After your muscles have been under stress, it is
important to release any contractions and to elongate them. Otherwise you may develop a cramp
from overstrained muscles.
During the days that you do not engage in aerobic activity, do some slow and easy stretching for
10-15 minutes. When stretching you want to breathe deeply, evenly, and slowly. Hold each
pose for at least 20 seconds. Do not overstrain. Allow your weight and your breath to do the
stretching for you, releasing tension on each breath, stretching just a bit more on the out breath.
Do not bounce a stretch. Stretching shapes the body, activates the muscles, and lightly activates
the circulation. Basically it should be a nice self-massage.
Upon embarking on an exercise program you may find the following to be helpful in easing your
way in: a high potency multiple vitamin and mineral supplement for the first 4 weeks (after 4
weeks do not take the supplements on a continuous bases), massage (have as much as you like,
and keep it way past 4 weeks if possible). If you have a family with heart disease history, take
hawthorn berries (which aide and open cardiac circulation).
Do take every opportunity you can to walk. Not only will you save gasoline, avoid traffic
congestion and irate Muni drivers, you will be benefiting your body as well.
Yoga and Tai Chi are excellent forms of exercise. There are various forms of both disciplines
ranging from very mild to rather strenuous aerobic exercise. However, both systems work on a
totally different principle than the Western concept of exercising at a certain heart rate so as to
train the heart and lungs and increase their capacities. Yoga and Tai Chi are designed in such a
way that without increasing heart rate (in fact lowering it) one can still develop the circulatory
system through proper breathing. In these systems the internal organs are gently massaged, the
muscles activated, and the joints opened, resulting in enhanced cardio-pulmonary health. The
San Francisco Bay Area is blessed with many wonderful teachers of both disciplines who offer a
wide variety of styles. These are wonderful practices that are meditative in nature and
beautifully enhance body and mind.
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, lie on your back, make sure you are comfortable and close
your eyes. Place your attention on your abdomen. To help you pay attention to your abdomen,
place the palm of one hand just below the navel. Release any tensions and expectations. As you
breathe in allow your abdomen to rise, as you breathe out allow your abdomen to fall. Make sure
you are allowing, not forcing, your abdomen to rise and fall. It is natural for the abdomen to
expand when we breathe in because the diaphragm is pulled down to allow for the expansion of
the lungs and chest. The abdomen falls naturally with the out-breath. Pay your whole attention
to the abdomen. Allow your exhalation to be longer than your inhalation. You will feel a fair
amount of motion in the abdomen. The abdomen not only rises but also expands: this is a very
comforting and calming rhythmic motion. Once you get the hang of the rise and fall of the
abdomen you can remove your hand from below the navel. Practicing this way, reminding our
bodies of the full, expansive, method of breathing is extremely useful and should be practiced
every day. You can do it upon waking, take 5 minutes in the middle of the day, and also as you
fall asleep. A body scan (described in the chapter on meditation) can then be added to further
release tensions and increase awareness of our whole body.
You can also practice diaphragmatic breathing standing up and sitting down. In fact we should
be breathing fully, using our diaphragm and relaxing our abdomens, at all times. Every so often,
place your hand lightly just below your navel (the center of your palm should be about three
finger breadths below the navel, which means your thumb will be touching the navel) and remind
yourself to breathe fully, deeply, and evenly. You can start diaphragmatic breathing by
breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth. This increases the clearing
of stress-produced chemicals from the body and induces relaxation. Then go back to breathing
through your nose.
Practicing abdominal breathing, at least once a day for 10 to 15 minutes will prove immensely
valuable. You will feel calmer, less fatigued, and ready to encounter life’s challenges.
Not all indoor environments are equipped with full spectrum lights. You need to go out and
breathe. If at all possible, take a break every hour or two and take a short walk outdoors. Even
though a walk on Mount Tam would be better, a five minute break in the fresh air is still
rejuvenating. We consider staying in the office during lunch hour to be hazardous to your health.
In meditation we let go of all doing, of all thoughts, all worries. We enter a place of calmness
and serenity. By shedding the various forms and manifestations of our busy lives we can find
our true selves. Meditation affords us an opportunity to become calm, and thus the ability to
look deeply and gain a new unobstructed perspective on our lives. Our meditation experience
may not lead us to full bliss each and every time, but cumulatively it affords us more
spaciousness and happiness.
There are many techniques of meditation. There are many books on meditation techniques as
well as many sitting groups throughout the Bay Area. We encourage you to search out the
method that best suits you. Ultimately meditation must be experienced, not read or talked about.
An intellectual understanding of the experience is nice but it is not the experience.
To start your meditation, find a comfortable sitting posture with your back self-supported,
relaxed and straight. A crossed-legged position sitting on a cushion is most common because it
allows an open and wide base, with the spine creating a vertical axis, inferring a strong
connection between heaven and earth. Westerners often find this posture too demanding and
prefer using a chair. The chair is also more common in Western spiritual traditions. In either
posture, allow your back to be straight, and your neck and shoulders to be relaxed. Either close
your eyes or direct your gaze downwards about three feet away (some traditions practice gazing
straight out). This way you already direct your focus inwards (some yogis call this “gazing at
your heart”). Your arms can rest on your knees or in your lap. Allow a half smile to form on
your lips. This posture seems easy. If you were to sit this way while talking to a friend or
watching television you would have no problem, but when we “empty” our minds, the mind
seems to want to grasp at something and pain and discomfort do arise.
Start by paying attention to your breath. You may want to start out with a few deeper breaths,
then allow your breath to come to its normal course, using diaphragmatic breathing. Simply pay
attention to your breath, the exchange of air through the nose, the rise and fall of the abdomen
and torso. Know and identify your inbreath. Know and identify your outbreath. Note the
coming and going of the breath. Observe how the inbreath turns into an outbreath, and the
outbreath in turn leads into the inbreath. Keep your awareness on the breath. When various
thoughts come, note them but do not engage in them (“do not invite them for tea”). The most
experienced meditators have various thoughts come and go. The important thing is that the
thoughts come and go, that they do not stay, that we do not begin to obsess and analyze.
To help you keep your focus on the breath you might want to softly and internally say “in” on
the inbreath, and “out” on the outbreath.
This form of meditation, concentrating on the breath, emphasizes stopping. The Buddhists talk
of stopping and insight as the two components of meditation. But first we must stop: stop the
mind from racing, stop engaging in our daily activities, stop playing the millions of games we
play without even knowing it. We stop so that we can allow something deeper to be discovered
and to emerge. This is already great insight. It is a place where we have arrived. We have
arrived at our true home, a place of great spaciousness. During these moments of sitting we are
no longer bothered by our anxieties and pains, we are not obsessing about the past or worried
about the future. We are simply sitting in the here and now, in full awareness and enjoyment of
the present moment. This is a great gift. Now we have shed our “little self”. We have arrived at
the place where we have let go of everything and we are connected to the source of our life, our
breath. From here compassion, equanimity and non-attachment flow. This is the greatest gift
meditation has to offer our health and us.
There are many other meditation techniques. In meditation we focus our attention (“meditate”)
on one thing to the exclusion, or rather the letting go, of other thoughts so as to relax our minds
and allow us to discover the mind’s greater depths. Most techniques utilize the breath as the
attention point. The most common other technique is visualization, where you might visualize
healing light, the light of God, of the Buddha, of compassion, etc., and take refuge in this light
and space. Other common techniques are the use of mantras and chanting which open up the
various energy centers of the body (chakras) and awaken the soul. All these techniques aim at
reaching an ecstatic state. Ecstasy does not mean having a good old time, but shedding the
boundaries of the self, connecting and becoming one with something bigger than the self as we
commonly understand it.
At times, during meditation, we reach great depths of stillness. We wish we could take that
sweet transcendent feeling and tuck it under the cushion, so we can take it out for our next
sitting. At other times we will experience only thoughts and more thoughts. This stream of
thoughts also serves us well. In the silence we can see what our thoughts are. Often we have
many thoughts that pull us in many different directions without even noticing them. When
thoughts arise in meditation we get a chance to observe and note them, and that can lead to great
insight on our emotional life.
Meditation and imaging are two different techniques, each utilizing a different set of brain
wavelengths. In imagery we communicate strongly with our inner world, while in meditation we
become more one with the world. Many meditation masters warn against slipping into
daydreaming, which may seem like imagery, during meditation. Both techniques are valuable
but are best practiced separately. When meditating, do only meditation, and when imaging do
only imagery.
Now, pay all your attention to your head, allowing the head to sink and be supported by the
floor. Breathing in I send all my attention to my head, breathing out I release all the tension in
my head. Breathe this way for several breaths. Now, focus on your neck and shoulders.
“Breathing in, I send all my attention and love to my neck and shoulders, breathing out I release
all the tension in my neck and shoulders, allowing them to open and widen.” Do this for several
breaths.
Keep going down the body: the arms – from the shoulders to the tips of the fingers, the heart, the
lungs, the liver, the kidneys, the intestines, the hips, the legs from the thighs to the tips of the
toes. Pay attention to the area, send your love and intention to it, and release all tension on the
outbreath (the release is mostly a thought process, but there may be a physical release and
movement).
When you have finished scanning the body, note the whole body, allowing your whole body to
sink into the floor, to be supported by the earth. Allow the whole body to lengthen and widen.
Come back to your breath, the rise and fall of the abdomen. Slowly open your eyes. Roll over to
one side, push with your arms so as to curl to a sitting position, and slowly get up.
You can go through the whole process in 5 minutes, although you might enjoy taking 10 minutes
to do so. You can also do it sitting comfortably in a chair. This is a wonderful way to release
tensions in our bodies and minds. It is a like taking a refreshing nap. You may want to practice
this exercise every day after lunch. You will feel awake, refreshed, and relaxed afterwards.
Walking Meditation
This meditation can also be done anywhere. If you are alone and indoors, simply walk very
slowly, taking one step with your inbreath, and one on your outbreath. Stepping on the left foot
on the inbreath, paying your full attention to your breath and feet. As the breath turns into an
outbreath, step on your right foot, paying full attention to your breath and body. As the outbreath
turns into an inbreath, step again on your left foot, and so on. Just a few steps, while paying full
attention to your breath, are enough to bring you back to your true self, to that wonderful feeling
of space and light. You can, of course, do this for longer, perhaps 5 or 10 minutes. At first, your
steps might be hesitant, but soon you will become accustomed to the slowness of walking
meditation and feel comfortable taking very small, slow, and deliberate steps. Although this
When walking outdoors, you can take several steps (perhaps two or three) on the inbreath, and
several on the outbreath. Again, pay all your attention to your breath, release all tensions in your
body, and enjoy your walking. This form of walking meditation is faster so it does not look too
strange, and can be done outdoors, in the garden, the park, and even for a short distance on your
way to work. (You would be surprised at what you might discover when you drop out of the
hustle bustle of the street.)
Eating Meditation
This meditation starts with the way you prepare your food, set the table, and sit down to eat. Do
each part slowly, paying attention to the breath as you perform each task. Do it as if you have all
the time in the world. Once you are sitting down, take note of your food. Take a few moments
to contemplate your food, where it comes from, how much work has gone into its preparation.
Contemplate how the broccoli has thrived thanks to the soil, the sun, and the rain. This allows us
a more complete connection with our food. We see the connectedness of everything in this
world, how we are all dependent on the sun, the clouds, the earth. Our food becomes a complete
universe, not just a piece of bread being chewed, but worlds of sunshine, rain storms, season
changes, fields of wheat, flour mills, bakeries, etc.
When you start eating, eat slowly, enjoying each mouthful. You may want to name the food
before you put it in your mouth. This allows you to recognize the food, rather than to just gobble
it down. Chew slowly and consciously, all the while remembering to breathe. You are eating
your meal as if you have all the time in the world, as if every piece of food is the whole universe.
This induces calmness and relaxation. All too often we eat and pay no attention. This is an
opportunity to eat in full awareness.
Many people say this method of eating is not only a meditation practice, but also allows them to
loose weight, as by eating slowly and consciously they can recognize satiation and they eat only
what they need, and then they do not over-eat.
These forms of meditation help bring our awareness back to our breath, back to our non-
congested nature, to a place of space and light. We need to try and practice coming back to our
breath as often as we possibly can. We can simply stop for a moment and pay attention to our
breath.
Telephone meditation is one of the best practices for people with busy schedules. Whenever the
phone rings, simply breathe in and out three times, and only then pick up the phone. If your
breath is very slow, you may need to breathe in and out only two times so as to not have the call
go over to your voice mail (though you may prefer to do that). The main thing is to stop
everything you are doing, stop the thinking, the talking, take your hands off the keyboard, and
simply breathe. You will find this also improves your telephone conversations. Many of us get
very tense when the phone rings. We are already engaged in something else and we see the
upcoming conversation as a possible nuisance. Telephone meditation allows us to use this
possible annoyance as an opportunity to create more space for ourselves, to release tensions, and
to come back to our full breathing.
Thich Nhat Hanh: The Blooming of the Lotus, Beacon Press, Boston, 1993
A book with many guided meditations for use during sitting meditation
Thich Nhat Hanh: The Miracle of Mindfulness, Beacon Press, Boston, 1975
A manual on meditation, especially for everyday activity
Thich Nhat Hanh: Peace is Every Step, Bantman Books, NY, 1991
A guide to mindfulness in daily life
These books are available in most bookstores, or can be purchased from Parallax Press at 510-525-0101
During imagery we allow the image to unfold in its own way, in its own order. This is the
subconscious communicating through free-association. We can analyze the image later, but not
while it is happening. If we analyze the image while it is happening, the image is no longer
happening and our rational mind has taken over. The type of imaging work we do is quick, full
of movement, and leads toward light and space (essential elements in healing). It is not hypnotic
in nature, nor is it meditative. Go through the image, keep it moving and end it within 30 to 60
seconds (or less). Any longer, and the rational mind will take over. This is very different than
other imagery techniques, or meditative visualizations, where you go into an image for long
periods. The key in this technique is movement.
It is best to do imagery in the morning upon waking, before eating or drinking anything. If you
need to urinate, do so before starting the image (you want to feel comfortable while imaging).
The process takes no longer than a minute per image. Do either one or three images in a sitting.
To engage in imagery, sit in a straight-backed chair, allowing your back to be straight and to rest
on the back of the chair. Your feet are parallel, resting on the floor. Your arms are resting on the
armrests, palms down (or on your lap, palms down, if the chair has no armrest). Do not cross
your hands or feet. This is the position of the Egyptian Pharaohs: you are literally sitting on the
throne of your own inner world. Close your eyes. Breathe in through the nose and out through
the mouth, making the exhalations slightly longer than the inhalations, quieting the mind. Set the
intention for the imaging exercise you are about to do and breathe out three times; that is start
with an out-breath, breathe in, then out, in again, and out (there are only two inbreaths). This
facilitates quieting, relaxation, and concentration. Now start the imagery.
In the imaging process we turn all our senses inwards: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting,
touching, all turn inwards toward the mind (which is an internal sense organ). Most people find
it easier to see things, but some find it easier to hear, smell, taste, or touch in an image, making
the image more alive. Though the instructions we give are mostly visual, use all your senses to
experience the situation. When you notice you are analyzing the image, stop analyzing, breathe
out once, and continue with the image in as pure a manner as possible. If your rationalizing
persists, stop the image altogether, and start again.
When the image is over, breathe out deeply once, and slowly open your eyes. Now you can
analyze the imagery. You may now want to reinforce some of what you learned by drawing it,
writing it, or giving it some expression (especially through behavioral changes). The purpose of
the image is to bring the treasures of our inner world, our subconscious, to our “real lives”. Try
to not just nod your head and say “this is interesting”; try to implement the message. You may
not be ready to make all the changes you want (or are being indicated by the image). Do what
Create your imagery exercises by seeing the problem you want to resolve and then seeing
yourself resolving it. Then see yourself being nourished by the sun, reinforcing your resolution.
When you see yourself in your problem it may look nothing like it looks in “real life”. For
example, if you want to look into a situation with a friend, you might see yourself with the
friend, you might see yourself in the desert, you might see your friend in chains, you might see
the two of you surrounded by wolves, etc. The possibilities are endless, because our imagination
(which represents our inner world) is unlimited. You may be surprised or even shocked by what
you see. Note the feeling, but do not try to analyze what the image means (in other words do not
say to yourself “Wow, that’s the problem, my friend is on another plane, I remember how aloof
he was…”). Once seeing the situation, make more of it by involving your other senses. What do
you see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel during this situation? For most people, this will come
naturally once the stage has been set.
Once the situation has been created/imaged, move on to resolve it. Notice what you (in the
image) do not like, where there are constrictions, darkness, etc. Use whatever tools you need to
resolve the situation. Remember this is imagery, you have all the tools you need: you merely
need to image them. For example, if you and your friend have encountered a pack of wolves,
you can talk to the wolves asking them what they want, you can embrace them, you can wear big
frightening masks and chase them away, you can cross a river which they cannot swim in, you
can shine a light at the wolves transforming them to people. Use your imagination! Now that
the situation has found some sense of resolution, see that resolution nourishing you. For
example, you and your friend walking on the beach together with a wolf beside you, or you
walking alone in the garden, knowing you are happy being on your own right now, etc.
Remember to keep the image moving. Once you see and sense the scene, move on, do not wait
anywhere forever no matter how pleasant it may be. Hanging out in some beautiful meadow for
a long time is a valid form of relaxation, but it is not conducive for searching the inner world for
messages.
The example we used is highly simplistic and suggestive. It is important to understand that there
are no good or bad resolutions in an image. You may really want to stay friends, but the image
may indicate otherwise. You might be a very peaceful person, yet you might find yourself using
violent tools in an image. Once the image is over you can analyze it and decide what it means
and what the message is. However, during the image, allow it to unfold using its own logic.
A very common use of imaging is to look at pain. In this type of imagery you imagine the part
of your body that is in pain (it can be a metaphorical part). You walk into the body part using
any opening you choose (skin pores, for instance, are an opening) and see what is wrong. You
can further ask to whom this pain belongs, or to what this pain belongs. Then clear the
blockages using golden tools for gold is the color of healing and transformation, clearing away
any debris. Then surround the body part with blue or white light, the colors of healing and
purity, allowing the light to penetrate every cell of the body, and see the body radiating the
healing light from within it. It is useful to know the anatomy and physiology of the body part
you are imaging. What you see in that body part can be anything, from what we might consider
to be rational (torn tissue) to the fantastic (witches, clowns, dark caves, stars, etc.).
The Seaside
Breathe out three times. See yourself on the beach by the seashore. Hear the sounds of the sea,
smell the smells, feel the air on your skin. Notice your clothes. Walk in the sand, and come to a
stop. Take off your clothes. Look at your clothes and the content of your bag (if any) and note
any items you wish to keep with you. Go towards the water. Mix some sand with water and rub
it onto your body, as if using a pumice stone. Rub different parts of your body with the sand.
Stand up and dive into the water, allow yourself to be fully immersed in the water. If you wish
you may take some more sand from the bottom of the sea and rub it against your body. Dive in
the water one last time. Come out of the water and walk to a rock. There is a new set of clothes
waiting for you by the rock. Dry yourself, and put on your new clothes. Walk in the sun
noticing your new clothes and your hair. Breathe out, and slowly open your eyes.
This is a purification exercise (every culture has a purification exercise that involves water). It is a wonderful
exercise to begin the day with, letting go of all our attachments, becoming more pure.
The Clock
Breathe out three times. See a clock. Notice what kind of clock it is. Now notice that
something is wrong with the clock. Figure out what is wrong with the clock and fix it
(remember – this is an image, you can obtain whatever tools you need). Breathe out and open
your eyes.
You can make the correlation that whatever is wrong with the clock is a metaphor for what is wrong with your life.
Whatever you do to fix it represents what you need to do in order to fix your life.
2. Breathe out three times. See, feel and know your innermost self, the indestructible self. Find
the place in your body where the innermost self resides, and go there, merging with your
innermost self. Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
2. Breathe out three times. You are in a natural environment (a meadow, a beach, etc.). Allow
the sun to penetrate and nourish the place in you that is most in the image of God. Breathe
out once. See and feel the parts of your body that are holding on to pain. From that part of
you that is most in the image of God, direct the light to each part that is holding on to pain
and cure it. If you need more light, you can connect your Inner Light to the light of the sun,
fortifying your light. Breathe out and open your eyes.
3. Breathe out three times. See yourself in your pain. Breathe out, and see yourself walking out
of your pain. Look back at the pain. Breathe out and open your eyes.
It is common for us to fuel our pain by the fact that we do not walk away from it.
These exercises, as well as the innermost self exercises are not meant to be sequential.
Each is an imagery exercise that can be done on its own.
Many people seem somewhat reluctant to begin an imagery routine. Inevitably almost all of
them find it to be a wonderful experience. After all what can be more exciting, more nourishing,
than to communicate with our inner world? Imaging allows us direct contact with our inner
world. In a minute or less of imaging you might gain insight and conviction that could otherwise
take a long time to uncover.
The purpose of imaging is to bring back a message from our inner world. Most of us are not
well connected with our inner worlds: it is too vast for most of us to feel comfortable in. It is
then up to us as to how we use that information. But know that the inner world is always
available to you, it can never be destroyed or tainted. It is a place where you reign supreme.
This chain of reactions produces many toxic metabolic waste products. As a result, the lymph
system is activated in order to clear those out. It is normal to get various symptoms such as
fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea, after a stressful incident. (This accounts for the high incidents
of colds and flus in the Olympics, where young, healthy people are under tremendous pressure.)
When we are continuously under stress, even if the stress is relatively mild, we are unable to
flush the toxicity out of our body fast enough and we develop a swampy terrain in our body.
This can be the beginning of chronic degenerative diseases and may end up as cancer.
Decision making, doubt, fear, anxiety, anticipation, expectations, are all sources of stress.
Mostly they cause a minor stress response, but these feelings can often be repetitive and even
constant, creating a prolonged stress response that is not given a chance to clear out of our
system. Our nervous system then adjusts, we are constantly in sympathetic mode and our
adrenals are under constant pressure. The result is that we exhaust our adrenals and confuse our
nervous system, becoming “sympathetic dominant,” leading to further deterioration and disease.
The Chinese see stress as disrupting the flow of Qi (energy life-force). Stress is seen as
primarily affecting the Liver and resulting in Liver Qi Congestion, one of the most common
Chinese medical diagnosis.
Aerobic exercise affords us an opportunity to clear the metabolic waste products created by
stress. It can also often take our minds off the stressing factor. Nutritional support such as
vitamin B6, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, pantothenic acid, and potassium, all support the adrenal
glands and can help us cope with stress. These are coping mechanisms.
Coming back to the breath, and breathing deeply in the abdomen calms us and settles us. We use
the metaphor of a tree in a storm. The leaves and branches sway violently in the wind. If we
only look at the branches we think that the tree is about to fall down. But then, when we look at
the trunk of the tree we see that it is not moved by the storm. Anchoring the breath below the
navel is like descending from the branches of the tree down to the tree trunk and taking refuge
from our emotional storm. We then feel less oppressed by the situation. Our negative feelings
do not invade us as easily and we feel there is space for other, more positive, feelings (such as
understanding the other person’s dilemma, seeing our frustration as a result of overwork, etc.)
We need to learn to take time to cultivate spaciousness in our lives so that at the moment of
stress we can go back to our breath. If we wait for the storm to come before we practice
conscious breathing, we probably won’t succeed. We need to constantly practice coming back to
our breathing. We need to take every opportunity we can to take the time and see the positive
things around us. This is where meditation can be our salvation. Formal sitting meditation is
very useful, but we also need to bring the practice to our daily life. Practicing a body scan and
relaxation once a day is a great help for people with stressful schedules. Stopping and breathing
each time the phone rings reinforces our ability to calm ourselves.
Each day we can have a cup of tea with mindfulness, alone or with a friend. Enjoying a cup of
tea slowly and calmly nourishes us and reinforces calmness. We can then find that calmness
when we most need it, when we are encountering stress.
We might have even chosen recreational activities that create more stress, rather than relaxation,
in our lives. We are so used to the notion of being constantly challenged that we opt for a
challenge even as a hobby. Even gardening, which seems like a perfect hobby, can turn into a
stress factor, if one is worried about getting the absolutely best seeds at the exact time, entering
the pumpkins in a competition, wanting to ensure the tomatoes are red so we can give them to
our neighbors, etc. If we can create stress in gardening, an activity which involves the outdoors,
seasonal changes and growth, how much more so when it comes to competitive sports? As soon
as ambition, schedules, the need for achievement, or expectations arise, we are probably entering
a stressful situation. Even if we absolutely love this activity, we need to reevaluate our
participation and find ways to shed the stressful elements.
Breathe out three times. See yourself in a stressful situation. Breathe out once. Now see the
stress lifting away in gray smoke. See yourself now without the stress. Surround yourself with
white light, allow the light to permeate every cell in your body. Let the light now emanate from
your chest or any other part of your body. Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
Breathe out three times. See the word “curse” inscribed before you. See the “s” as a snake
enveloped in red flames. Let the snake slither away, and see what is left. Surround what is left
by white light, and put it anywhere in your body where it is needed. Know that the doubt and
stress are gone. Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
Much of our stress is caused by us being annoyed at another person, feeling unheard, and
through mutual misunderstanding of each other’s motivations. The following image can help.
Breathe out three times. See yourself face to face with the person who is upsetting you. Enter
his or her body through any opening you choose (skin pores are an opening). Travel up to his or
her heart, and see through their eyes. See yourself standing across from your adversary, seeing
through his or her eyes and heart. Come out the way you came in. Breathe out once. Now allow
your adversary to enter your body. Guide him or her to your heart and eyes. Allow him or her to
see themselves through your heart and eyes. Allow your adversary to leave the way he or she
came in. From your heart ask a question of your adversary’s heart and listen to the answer.
Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
Managing stress is not always easy. It takes practice. It also takes courage and the willingness to
be vulnerable. Managing stress is a matter of continuously creating more space in our lives. It is
about handling our emotions, staying in the present moment without obsessing about the past or
the future. We will look further into that in the next chapter.
Meanwhile, we are missing the most important time of our lives: the present moment. The past
is already gone, we cannot change it by rehashing how stupid we think we, or others, might have
been. The future has not yet arrived, we cannot tell what it will bring. Our anxieties and fears
may not come true. We have no way of knowing what will really happen. Even in the midst of
great depression, anxiety, or panic, we can come back to the present moment and find that we are
alive, breathing, and that we are capable of happiness. For just this moment we can let go of our
fears, anxieties, anger. And at this very moment we can feel rather peaceful and spacious. And
then we can do it again and again at each moment.
This is not escapism. Living fully in the present moment does not mean that we stop saving
money for the kids’ college fund, or that we never evaluate our actions and try to improve
ourselves. Living in the present moment is simply acknowledging that we cannot control the
future, nor change the past. We simply let go of the obsessive qualities of our feelings. We
recognize that we made a mistake, or that we need to do something in an attempt to make us
happy in the future, and we do whatever we think needs to be done about it. All we have done is
to let go of the emotional baggage.
Mindful Breathing
Living in the present moment means knowing what is happening right here and now. We do this
with the help of mindful breathing. Mindful breathing calms our mind and takes the edge off the
obsessive nature of our thoughts. We can then see that life is still all around us and that we can
connect to it: we can breathe, we can walk on the earth, we can enjoy the sky and the sun, we can
connect with people, animals, landscapes, etc.
“Dwelling in the present moment, I know it is a wonderful moment” is a famous mantra favored
by Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. To live fully in the moment is to have the capacity
to see that it is a wonderful moment.
In moments of great suffering and under extreme and adverse circumstances, we can still come
back to the present moment. Sometimes our whole world seems to be crumbling around us, and
yet, we are alive. In some grave situations this may seem wrong. Perhaps we would have
preferred to have died. But the fact is that we are alive, and as long as we are breathing we have
the capacity to see something, even if very remote, that is wonderful. We are always able to
change our inner world, to adjust our understanding of the situation. We can always choose to
live fully in the present moment.
You might be thinking “this is very nice, but what happens when you have a real problem and it
is right here and now?”
People have maintained their dignity and capacity for life in the worst and most despairing of
circumstances: forced labor camps, long wars and devastation, etc. Perhaps we think of these
people as saints. We believe we would not be able to be that way. But we need not take the big
challenges yet. These challenges are not ours at this moment. We need to handle our own
despair, our own running away from the present moment. When we manage the smaller scale
challenges, we find ourselves able to live fully in the present moment in the face of greater
challenges. We can cultivate in us the ability to remain calm, serene, content, and hopeful, by
doing it one step at a time, moment by moment.
It is important to understand that all feelings, even so-called negative feelings, have their purpose
and reason. As long as such feelings do not “invade the heart”, they are not necessarily
damaging, though they may be unpleasant. The concept of a feeling “invading the heart” means
that it has become all consuming. At that point we loose the ability to experience other
emotions. We are in a “narrow place” – we see everything in life through the prism (or prison)
of the particular emotion that has taken over us. When a feeling becomes too strong and begins
to consume us, this is when it adversely affects and blocks the circulation of Qi (energy life-
force) and causes disease. Naturally it is best to handle the emotion before it gets to the
damaging state. The best way to do that is to allow our feelings to flow and watch out for any
over-floods.
Emotions are an extremely important part of life. The Chinese character Qing, which stands for
emotion, is a representation of the greenery of life inside the heart. In other words emotions are
the deep power and the richness of life itself.
Oppression, the character You, is represented by the pictogram of one who is walking around
carrying the troubles of his head and heart. Clearly an undesirable state, as it prevents us from
walking around open to new experiences and new possibilities.
Anger, Nu, represents the feeling in the heart of a woman who has a hand over her, in other
words, the feeling of a slave woman. Anger makes the Qi rise. Many of us fail to see that anger
has to do with our need to equalize power. When another person puts us down we feel angry,
and our anger makes us feel like we are rising above them (indignant anger). Thus we can look
at our need to be as important as another as a key to understanding our anger.
Fear, Kong Ju, is the beating of the heart of a watchful bird. Fear sinks the Qi. It is naturally
useful to be watchful to a point. Once our heart is beating too strongly though, fear has taken
over, it has become pathological. We have sank too low, becoming smaller and smaller in face
of our fear. Thus when looking at fear we want to recognize what truly needs to be watched
over.
Through conscious breathing, the named feeling can be calmed. It is now easier to let go of the
past and the future and come back to the present moment. Our breathing allows us to embrace
the feeling and to give it spaciousness. We can now remind ourselves that the quality and
intensity of all feelings are transitory in nature, and that this storm too shall pass. We can start to
see how our feeling is linked with us being caught in the past or worried about the future. We
can take refuge in the present moment and allow ourselves some space away from the pain.
When we keep nursing our feelings with conscious breathing, walking meditation, relaxing, and
nourishing other feelings that are positive, the negative feeling can loose its grip on us. We can
start to see its root causes and address those. This is a process that might take minutes, if we are
lucky, or it may take days or even weeks. It is important to trust the process. We can trust the
process if we can enjoy it, and surely it is far more enjoyable to be aware of our breath than to be
caught in a storm of negative emotion. This way, we get positive reinforcement that allows us to
keep going and face the next strong wave of emotion.
You can visualize the idea of giving space to a strong emotion and dissolving it using the
following imagery:
Breathe out three times. See your emotion raging. Breathe out once. Surround the emotion with
a white light. Let the emotion dissolve into the light and become part of it. Now dive into the
light yourself, and feel the space and light around you. Breathe out and open your eyes.
Our feelings are never inappropriate, though the way we express them might be. Revealing our
feelings will always make us vulnerable, but most people react with kindness when exposed with
Sometimes expressing a feeling is the best way to handle it: it gives the feeling some space, it is
no longer confined within us. Once expression takes place, come back and look into the feeling
and its root causes. Sometimes, however, we are not able to express our feelings to others. This
may be because we are not yet able to express ourselves, or perhaps because we do not feel we
will get the support we yearn for.
There are times when our pain is so great that we no longer seek the support of others. When we
are on the edge of our emotional abyss, self-expression is what lets us come out. No matter
whether we are atheists, agnostics, or observers of religion, we have all found ourselves praying
when in tremendous despair. Prayer is a form of self-expression that allows us to calm our
feelings and feel supported, even when those feelings lack definition.
There are times when all we can do is to scream a silent scream. At other times we are moved to
scream audibly. Then there are times when we sing. At first a melody without words comes out,
and then a few words might come, disconnected, meaningless. At other times, we are moved to
sing with coherent words. And when we have poured our soul and understood our yearnings
more clearly, this is when we use words, such as in journaling.
All of these forms of expression allow us to open our hearts, to pour out our soul, to connect with
something larger than ourselves, and to know that we are being heard. We are being heard by
our own inner world, by whatever we feel sustains life: this can be God, the goddess, Buddha, or
any life-sustaining energy that we connect to. By allowing the pain to pour out, we reaffirm our
connection to our Source, and the Source listens to us, supports us, gives us the spaciousness and
connectedness we so desperately need. Whether we pray, or sing, or dance, or scream silently or
audibly, we know that at that moment we are being fully heard and that we are being supported.
There are no hide-and-seek games within this form of expression. This allows great
spaciousness for our feelings, and now our feelings are no longer congested but are a
manifestation of the force of life that runs through us.
It is no wonder that addictions have been an area of major concern throughout the history of
medicine. In the language of ancient China the obsession can be considered a demon, and the
addict can be seen as possessed. Later, non-demonic psychological states have been used in
describing the same phenomenon. Medically, the Chinese saw addiction as so important that
they described an important channel system (the Yin Wei channel) as the mechanism that fails in
the addict, and named points accordingly. The first point on this channel is called the Guest
House (Zhu Bin), indicating that this channel’s role is to help us play host to ourselves, to be
comfortable with who we are, and to not allow unwanted “guests” (such as addictions) in.
Today, we still use this channel in treating addictions. Basic human behavior is much the same
as it was two thousand years ago in China, the words have changed, the means have become
more sophisticated, but our basic needs and desires are very much the same.
Cravings are natural. They express the fact that we lack something. We need to learn to handle
them before they take us over and turn into addictions. If we can learn to fill the void from
within, we would then be able to handle our cravings. Behind the craving there is a call, often a
desperate one, for us to pay attention, to address an inner pain. When we fail to understand the
true calling of the craving, and simply satisfy the external manifestation, we fall victim to it and
become addicted. We have now escaped ourselves, our pain. We no longer live in our true body,
we are no longer living in the moment. We have masked our true self and the present moment
with an addiction.
Whatever the addiction is, be it alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, food, love, sex, work, etc., it is often
very hard for us to recognize. Like a despotic ruler, the addiction is not going to simply give up
control. It is very clever about it. It might pretend it does not exist, or that it is only a natural
thing. It might tell you that you, the true owner of the self, couldn’t possibly exist without it, the
“benevolent” addiction. It pretends to be a natural “coping mechanism” while in truth it is you
who have to cope with it. No matter what people around us say, no matter how disapproving,
recognizing the addiction for what it is, a foreign ruler over our true freedom, is extremely hard
for many of us.
Learning Satiation
Coming back to the present moment and learning satiation are tools to both recognize addictions
and to conquer them. Our tendency is to not be satiated. We have a bite of ice cream, and rather
than recognizing that it is good and being thankful for it, we waste no time and immediately
reach for the container, gulping down a full pint before we ever had a chance to enjoy the first
bite. We simply do not know how to recognize satiation. As soon as we like something, we let
go of the present moment feeling of “hum, this is lovely” and we rush to the future, trying to
Learning satiation is learning moderation, even in areas where we seem to have no problems
with. When we eat, we can eat very slowly, one bite at a time, making a conscious effort to
enjoy each morsel of food. We can support this by taking time to prepare the meal and the table.
Taking one bite at a time, chewing slowly, taking time to breathe and reflect between each bite,
allowing ourselves to enjoy the food, our movements, our breath. This practice has helped many
people loose weight. Once they slow down their eating habits, they recognize that they are
satiated with less food, they eat less and begin to loose weight.
We can practice learning satiation by simply slowing down and taking note of what is happening
to us. Learning satiation is basically learning to be in the present moment. It is stopping the
habit of moving into the future. When we shop, we can pick each item with care (after all if we
are about to buy it, why handle it roughly). When we drive a car, we can stay at the speed we are
at (remember, this is an exercise, try it) rather than assume we would have a better time at a
higher speed. When we are with friends, we can just pause and be with them, we do not have to
exhaust all subjects of conversation immediately or go somewhere in order to have fun.
Once we recognize our addiction, we need to exercise satiation in that realm. With some
addictions (involving life-sustaining activities such as eating) we can still do the activity but we
need to slow down in order to recognize our point of satiation. Then we can stop the activity.
With some addictions, we cannot afford to engage in the activity at all.
In either case, we need to learn what emotional states lead us to the addictive activity, and
exercise spaciousness so that the emotion will not take us over. Most often the emotions behind
an addiction are loneliness, isolation, fear, worry, and anger. If we can fully accept who we are,
then we can accept our situation, and we will not need to escape.
There is no magic wand that waves addictions away. There is no generic path. Each person
must find his or her own path. We have found the following imagery exercises to be useful.
Acupuncture can be extremely helpful in calming cravings and opening the mind-heart
throughout all stages of the recovery process. A detoxification program is very useful, however,
in the acute stage of recovery it is usually too difficult to master. The most useful elements of
our detoxification program during the acute recovery stage (the “detox stage”) are the cofee
enemas (once a day for 3 days, with 3 days rest following) and carrot, dandelion, and parsley
juice. These help to detoxify the liver, the organ most involved in chemical addictions.
Being over-weight is a matter not only of overcoming addictions, but also of adjusting
metabolism. One might be able to readjust one’s metabolism through the use of proper foods, or,
in cases where there are more serious disease processes already set in, one might need medical
help. In either case, we believe it is best to seek the advise of a health care professional.
Acupuncture can address and adjust the metabolic process, as can herbal remedies.
In all addictions, the issue of self-image, and reinforcement of a new, positive image, must be
dealt with. The first image we suggest for weight loss can be adjusted for any other addiction,
craving, or desire to let go of an old image and forge a new one.
Mirroring – creating the image of yourself as thin: this is the image you will become.
Breathe out slowly three times. See yourself in a mirror. The image in the mirror is thin. Enter
the mirror and merge with your image. Notice how you feel. Breathe out once.
Come out of the mirror. Push the image of your thin self to the right with your right hand.
Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
Do this exercise as needed (to reinforce the thin image).
See your thin self each time before meals.
Restructuring – to reshape the body (do the imagery 20 to 30 minutes before meals)
This is a progressive exercise. Each week you add another component to the previous ones.
The basic exercise (week one): As you breathe in see all four extremities folding in. The fingers
and toes fold into the hands and feet; into the wrists and ankles; into the forearms, elbows, calves
and knees; into the upper arms and shoulders, thighs and hips; all folding into the abdomen under
the diaphragm and meeting there. Image this quickly in one deep inhalation. On your out-
breath, see gray smoke coming out and drifting in the air. (This is your fat coming out of the
skin and disappearing into the universe.) Do this three times, on 3 full breaths.
Get up from the chair and stand by a wall. Face north and stretch on your toes and stretch your
arms in the air. Turn to the east (90o to the right). Stretch on your toes and stretch the right arm.
Turn another 90o to the right, facing south. Stretch on your toes and stretch both arms. Turn
another 90o to the right, facing west. Stretch on your toes and stretch the left arm. Turn again
and repeat (3 circles in all).
Week three: After folding and stretching (3 times), sit in the chair, close your eyes and
physically bend your body over from the waist, elevating your legs, stretching the legs and
stretching the arms in front of you. See your arms and legs extending far away (for miles!) when
you exhale, and relax. Do this three times.
Do this three-week cycle, and then stop for a week, starting another three-week cycle, breaking
for one week, etc.
Do this exercise for 21 days with the intention of giving up your addiction.
What you hold in your hand can be the addictive substance (e.g., a cigarette, a bottle, etc.) or can
represent your addiction in some manner.
In each case we outline the possible causes, and treatment strategies that are easily implemented.
We also describe an emotional profile that seems to correlate with the condition. These
philosophical statements are somewhat of a dogma, and like any dogma, they need to be tailored
to the individual case. The same is true to any advice given here. For example, dairy is the most
common contributor (if not creator) of allergies. Most people feel much improved when dairy is
eliminated. There are, however, people with allergies who seem to be unaffected by dairy and
do not seem to get better even after months of eliminating dairy from their diets. Those people
are rare, and the allergy-dairy connection still holds true because medicine is not an exact
science, but a statistical one. And since healing is an art, it is impossible to summarize it in a
book.
Sinus Allergies
The most common form of allergy is the sinus allergy. This can be a reaction to pollen, dust,
mold, animal dander, etc. Many clinicians believe that underlying almost any allergy is a food
allergy. The food allergy is often subtle and does not manifest strongly. Once the known
allergen is introduced, it acts as the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” and it brings about the
full blown allergic reaction.
The allergic reaction is a result of the immune system trying to neutralize what it perceives as an
unwanted foreign substance (e.g. pollen). The mobilized IgE antibodies cause a release of
histamines which cause sneezing, congestion, and itching. Taking anti-histamines blocks the
effect of histamines. It does not cure the allergy. Most over-the-counter anti-histamines cause
drowsiness. Non-sedating anti-histamines (usually obtained through a prescription) do not cross
the blood-brain barrier as easily and thus do not cause drowsiness, but they still provide only
temporary relief.
Allergies can be the first stage of more serious chronic degenerative diseases. With an over-
zealot immune system, the body can become accustomed to being in attack mode. This could
lead to auto-immune disorders in the long run and begins to tax the autonomic nervous system.
Sinus allergies also prevent us from breathing fully and cleanly, contributing to toxic build up.
Allergies are a full-body systemic problem. One cannot ignore the possibilities of food allergies,
of immune problem, etc.
Eat plenty of green vegetables, especially dark leafy greens. Lightly cook or steam your
vegetables. Eat non-glutinous grains (no wheat or rye). Avoid cold drinks. Dark leafy greens
help decongest the liver. Liver congestion can play a role in allergies. Warm foods and
elimination of cold drinks helps maintain more efficient digestion and reduces phlegm
production. The most important dietary change you can make is the elimination of dairy, sugar,
and wheat.
Nasal Rinsing
The sinuses are cave-like structures that are dark and are not well nourished by blood vessels.
They are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria and other pathogenic microbes. Because of their
poor circulation, it is hard to clear sinus infections with antibiotics. The antibiotics simply do not
reach the target area. Just as one treats an infected hung nail with external application of iodine
solution, the sinuses are best treated externally through a nose rinse. Even though you may not
have a sinus infection (50% of allergy sufferers do have a sinus infection) it is important that you
rinse your sinuses, to prevent accumulation of phlegm and bacteria. Research has shown that
some bacteria, including streptococci, when treated with antibiotics will travel to the sinuses,
where they will thrive unaffected by the antibiotics. The original infected site is cleared, but the
bacteria will then come back and re-infect it, causing chronic infections. Rinsing the sinus
cavities cuts this cycle.
Rinse your sinuses twice a day with sea salt water. Use one cup of warm water with a teaspoon
of sea salt. Snort the water up one nostril, and spit the water out through the mouth (or through
the other nostril; it is important that the water pass through the sinuses). Repeat a few times,
snorting salt water through each nostril a few times. At first this sinus rinse may feel like you are
drowning in the ocean, but after a few rinses you will get used to the feeling and learn to adjust
the quantity of water.
Instead of using salt water, you can use bancha tea. Using water boiled in dandelion root is even
more effective when there is an infection because of the anti-microbial effect of dandelion root.
For a serious sinus infections use following essential oils in the salt water. Two to three drops of
peppermint essential oil, 2-3 drops of tea tree essential oil, and 2-3 drops of thyme essential oil.
This combination is highly anti-microbial and strongly opens the nose.
2. Breathe out three times. See, feel and know the place in your body where there is fighting.
Do what is needed to bring truce to the fighting. See the white light of peace glowing from
the place where previously fighting took place, and see the light expanding through your
whole body, surrounding you and the air around you. (If you have trouble with creating the
truce, remember that this is an image, anything can happen. You can mobilize whatever
resources are necessary.)
3. Breathe out three times. See yourself in a large open space. Stretch your arms up towards
the sun. Your arms are becoming very long, stretching toward the sun. Allow the rays of the
sun to nourish your hands, palms and fingertips. At the end of each fingertip there is a ray
connecting to the sun. At the fingertip of each finger of your right hand (left, if you are left
handed) see a small hand (5 hands in all), while at the fingertips of your left hand (right if
you are left handed) see 5 eyes. Bring the arms toward your sinuses. Enter the sinus
cavities, shedding rays of light into the sinuses. With the small hands at the end of your
fingertips, using golden tools, clean out what needs cleaning: brush, sweep, wipe, take away.
See that the sinus cavities are now clear, pink, and smooth. Come out of the sinus cavities,
hold your arms up to the sun, and let the eyes and hands pull back into your fingertips.
Breathe out and open your eyes.
Acupuncture can be very helpful in sinus allergies, and specific allergies can be treated using
applied kinesiology techniques. Using these techniques we can reeducate the nervous system to
accept what was previously treated as an allergen.
From the Chinese standpoint fatigue is seen as a deficiency in the Spleen (digestive/absorption
system) and Lungs, as well as a congestion of energy mostly due to emotions or to Dampness or
Phlegm. Dampness or Phlegm can be seen as metabolic waste products that are not being
cleared efficiently from the body (fat is a form of “dampness”). Dampness and Phlegm obstruct
the flow of energy. They act as a swamp, obstructing, not allowing us to easily connect through
their viscosity.
The importance of sugar in fatigue stands to reason, as sugar is the form of energy our body uses.
The habit of getting a quick energy fix with coffee and sugar causes a rapid rise in blood glucose
levels with a rapid drop afterwards, leading to a slump. In many cases fixing sugar metabolism
through both treatment and diet solves the problem. Though eliminating sugar may not solve the
problem, it is almost always a preliminary step prior to addressing other issues. Sugar
metabolism and underlying factors can all be addressed and treated with acupuncture and other
modalities.
Eat your protein in the morning and at lunch rather than in the evening. You need the protein
during your active hours. A tofu breakfast may sound weird, but it is excellent for combating
fatigue.
Reduce, or eliminate dairy and wheat products. Both products are highly allergenic, with many
people displaying only fatigue as the allergic reaction.
Eat lots of dark leafy greens. These help decongest the Qi (energy life-force) of the Liver, and
they are rich in chlorophyll which is plant blood and are thus very nourishing.
Deep diaphragmatic breathing helps to cultivate energy as well as free its flow. Swimming,
Yoga, or Tai Chi, are the preferred exercises in fatigue so as to avoid exertion.
Sleep Disorders
Lack of sleep, disturbed sleep, or sleep that is not restful, will lead to fatigue that can be long
lasting. In Chinese terms, sleep is seen as the phase when the Blood returns to the Liver after
circulating in, and nourishing, the body. Liver time is between 1am and 3am. This is the time
for the deepest sleep – REM sleep. People who are not asleep between 1 and 3am, even if they
sleep at another time to compensate, tend to have less restful sleep. It is good to be lying down
by 11pm (though not necessarily asleep) as this is the beginning of Gallbladder time (Gallbladder
is the Yang component of the Liver), and to be actually asleep by 1am.
Too many thoughts and anxiety can disturb your sleep also. Clear your mind by practicing the
body scan relaxation just before you go to sleep.
Low blood sugar can affect sleep, as will going to bed on an overly full stomach. Caffeine, tea,
alcohol, chocolate, marijuana and other drugs (recreational and otherwise) can all affect sleep.
Insomnia is a hard habit/condition to break. There are many herbal remedies for insomnia, and
finding the best one for you is sometimes a matter of trial and error. If valerian root, passion
flower, hops, and chamomile do not help, an herbal consultation is probably called for.
All the contributing factors to the “common fatigue” can be found in people with CFIDS (though
not necessarily all in the same person): adrenal and pituitary involvement, low blood pressure,
sleep disturbances, viral infections, candida and yeast, etc. These are often reported as
prodromes (precursors) in CFIDS. All of these need to be addressed in treating the condition.
Any allergies must also be resolved because of the over-sensitive immune system (“up-
regulated” immune system).
CFIDS sufferers must absolutely avoid all sugar, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, and sugar substitutes
(Nutrasweet). A detoxification regimen may be called for and should be done gradually due to
the high sensitivity of people with CFIDS. Do eat lots of kelp, seaweed, dandelion greens, and
some cashews. Tofu, legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains, and dark leafy greens are high in
magnesium which has been found to be useful in CFIDS (some clinics use Mg injections). Lots
of water is a must. Large quantities of garlic are often used, especially if there is an underlying
yeast infection.
Diaphragmatic breathing is crucial. Mild forms of swimming and stretching, yoga, and Tai Chi,
are recommended. Vigorous exercise is not possible and only aggravates the condition. Stress
management and relaxation techniques are also important in order to avoid further adrenal
exhaustion.
Avoid exposure to chemicals because of the oversensitive immune system. Moderate exposure
to sun is a good thing, but over-exposure can be too tiring.
Almost all CFIDS sufferers have some form of depression complicating their condition. The
depression is often a result of the debilitating fatigue, and in some cases has preceded it. There
are now many support groups for people with CFIDS and it is well worth checking those out.
This can provide much needed emotional support in a world that can seem abrupt and hostile to
those who cannot keep up the pace. Because of the uncertain diagnostic nature of this disease,
many treatments are patient-initiated. You might learn a lot in the information exchanges that
take place in a support group.
You may want to try this imagery exercise for fatigue. Do it once in the morning (following the
seaside exercise described in the chapter on imagery), and once in the early afternoon. Breathe
out three times. See yourself in your nest curled in the fetal position. Breathe out once. Let the
rays of the sun bring light and warmth into the nest and caress you. Feel the rays of the sun on
your body, waking each part of you. Stretch and come out of the nest and into the garden of life.
Walk in the sun-filled garden and enjoy the hidden treasures. As you walk, start dancing with
people, animals, trees, and other objects in the garden that bring joy to you. Breathe out once.
Come back to your nest, still filled with sun. Rearrange the nest to your liking and sit in it
allowing the sun and the garden to penetrate your heart. Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
Repetitive stress injury is also known as cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) and as repetitive
motion injury (RMI), with different clinicians preferring one name to the other. RSI seems to be
the most common “street name” and we will stick to it here.
The epidemic proportion of RSI has been blamed on keyboards, on the mouse, etc. (which is
further pushing the technology of sound recognition). But the most important factor is the fact
that more and more people are working longer hours with fewer breaks. People can spend a full
day at the computer keyboard and accomplish many tasks, making it appear as if they have done
a variety of jobs, while in the physical sense they have sat in the same place doing the same
physical activity all day long. In the days when typing was relegated to typists, it was considered
“humane” to take breaks. Now that everyone is doing the typing, people seem to be on the
keyboard for much longer periods of time without interruption.
RSI is a result of repeated injuries to an area. These injuries, by themselves, are not a great cause
of concern. An inflammatory process is started, and normally it would clear. The problem in
RSI, is that a bad, constrictive, posture is preventing proper blood supply into the area and thus
the inflammation is not fully cleared, another injury is accumulated on top of the first uncleared
one, and a stronger inflammation is developed and, again, is not fully cleared. The postural
problem always precedes the injuries (which often go unnoticed).
Hormonal changes (pregnancy and menopause) seem to accompany a number of RSI sufferers.
Perhaps our ability to clear inflammation is modified during hormonal changes. A slouched
posture, tightness, and constriction are still major contributing factors.
Wrist surgery is not the solution. Many people complain of the same pain again after surgery.
The best solution is to change postural habits.
While ergonomics when typing is very important, the posture we are talking about is a habit
people have acquired long before they started typing for too many hours. Ensuring correct
alignment of the wrist while typing is important, but just as important, if not more so, is avoiding
a forward bending neck, slouched shoulders, posture. The slouched posture restricts blood flow
starting in the neck and throat, through the chest, and on to the arm, and that is a determining
factor in your ability to recover from repeated minute injuries and to prevent repeated
inflammatory process.
From the Chinese perspective, RSI is considered to be a blockage (as it is in Western terms), but
an aspect of Blood Deficiency is also often diagnosed. This concept of Blood Deficiency does
not imply anemia, but does mean that the quality, or quantity, of blood is insufficient. To help
nourish and build blood, it is recommended that you take chlorophyll, dark leafy greens, and root
External liniments such as Tieh Ta Yao Gin are sometimes helpful as is application of moxa
(moxa is a very penetrating heat which allows for increased blood flow at the deep and
superficial levels, thus opening blockages).
Warm-up Exercises
Before engaging in activity that might be repetitive and cause damage to your hands, warm up
the arms and hands and increase circulation and flow. These exercises should also be done at the
end of each hour of repetitive motion.
Extend both arms straight in front of you. Extend the wrist and stretch the fingers (the finger tips
are now pointing to the sky, the palm points directly to the front). Hold this for the count of five.
Be sure you are breathing deeply.
Now make a fist (while the arm is still straight in front of your chest). The knuckles will face
directly front. Release the posture, relax and repeat 10 times.
After 10 repetitions, shake the hands and then start your work.
Do not tuck the phone between your chin and shoulder. This creates a twist in the neck, chest
and shoulder that when habituated can constrict blood flow into the arm.
Remind yourself to let your shoulders and neck relax, to gently open the chest, and to allow your
head to float upwards without strain. A few lessons in the Alexander technique can dramatically
change your understanding of posture.
Keep giving yourself these directions: freeing the neck, allowing the head to go forward and up,
lengthening and widening the spine by allowing the hips, shoulders, and spine to sink and grow
into the floor. Do this for about 10 minutes. Keep breathing deeply and consciously to facilitate
further lengthening and widening.
To get up, roll over to one side, and push lightly with your arms into a sitting position. The
feeling in your back should be very different than what you usually experience. This new length
and width will last for a short while, but you can remind yourself of this postural possibility
many times during the day, thus facilitating better flow into the arms.
Do this exercise at least twice a day for 10 minutes at a time. The postural changes that can
occur over time are very beneficial and will become long lasting.
This exercise is based on the Alexander technique approach. By taking lessons you will gain a
better understanding (in your body rather than in your intellect).
However, there are many folk remedies as well as prepared pills that are extremely effective.
When used for the conditions described, these remedies can make a great contribution, and for
the most part, they carry no adverse side effects. A given symptom can be the result of a number
of different patterns, and each pattern requires a different set of herbs. So while ginger is an
excellent herb for just about any digestive problem, it is also a very warming herb. Because
nausea might be of a hot or cold nature, we recommend neutralizing the warming effect of ginger
by combining it with peppermint which has weaker digestive properties, but is cooling. This
way one can use ginger for digestive issues regardless of their root cause without fear of
aggravation.
There has been some controversy over the use of herbal pills made in mainland China. Some
pills are made with toxic animal substances, endangered species, or even Western
pharmaceuticals that are added to the herbs. None of the remedies we recommend contain
animal products. Nonetheless, some people prefer to buy American-made pills that are
beginning to be more readily available. These products will carry the same name or they will
indicate the original Chinese formula name. You can get Chinese patent medicines at Rainbow,
Real Food, Whole Foods, and many other health food stores, as well as in China town, or on
Clement Street.
Colds
Ginger root and scallions at the beginning stages of a cold. Boil 3 generous slices of ginger, with
4-5 stalks of scallion (both the white and green part) in 1½ cups of water for about 5 minutes,
and drink the water. Go to bed and stay under the covers. You should sweat mildly. You can
also add peppermint and garlic to this decoction.
Peppermint (or spearmint) is excellent for sore throat, for the nose, eyes, and helps clear the
lungs. It is best to use fresh peppermint, or peppermint essential oil (though not for eyes)
Garlic is highly anti-microbial and anti-parasitical and is excellent for both sore throats and ear
infections. Peel a garlic clove and suck on it, or put it in the ear (do not push in).
Ma Huang (or Ephedra) is an excellent herb for very severe colds with chills as well as for
phlegm in lungs (as long as the phlegm is white). However it is also a speeder, and many people
use it for that, giving Ma Huang a bad reputation. The kind of cold for which Ma Huang is
The Yerba Buena Acupuncture Health Workbook page 56
meant for is not common in California, and is more common in extremely cold climates. (When
boiling Ma Huang, white froth will form – remove it and continue boiling, this neutralizes its
“speed” effect.)
Yin Qiao Jie Du Pian is a patent medicine fashioned after a formula that was originally geared
for sore throats. Although many people use Yin Qiao at the beginning stages of any kind of cold,
it works best when there is a sore throat involved.
Gan Mao Ling and Zhong Gan Ling are very effective patent medicines for colds. However,
some versions of it appear to have contained salicylic acid (aspirin). To still enjoy the pure
herbal form, get an American-made pill (it may come under a different name).
Bi Yan Pian is an excellent patent medicine for nose problems (especially runny nose).
When having a cold it is very important to rinse the nose and sinuses with salt water, as the sinus
cavities are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria. You can also rinse the sinuses with water that
has been used to boil dandelion root as this is more antiseptic. You can also add 2-3 drops of
peppermint, thyme, and tea tree essential oils to the mix. Simply snort the liquid in through one
nostril and spit it out, then snort through the other nostril, spit out, and repeat.
Cough
Loquat Syrup is very useful for any kind of chronic cough.
Baked pear is an effective folk remedy, primarily for dry coughs.
Headache
Peppermint and chrysanthemum teas can help as well as rubbing peppermint and cinnamon
essential oils (60-100 drops in 2oz. carrier oil). However headaches can be caused by so many
factors that it is impossible to presume what the effective remedy will be without a thorough
diagnosis.
Digestive Problems
Ginger, fennel, and peppermint (best in combination) tea can be used for nausea, vomiting,
stomach cramps, gas, and diarrhea.
Curing Pill (Kang Ning Wan) is the most popular pill for digestive problems. It is highly
effective.
Lotus root (cooked in soup) is useful for diarrhea. It is commonly sold in Chinese grocery stores
and looks like tiny white skulls. Well-cooked barley also helps with diarrhea.
Mild Constipation can be helped by oils (blend a whole lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a
glass of fruit juice, strain the liquid and drink), or fiber (use fresh apple juice, or psyllium seed).
Acute constipation can be alleviated with senna leaf tea or rhubarb. Do not use either senna leaf
or rhubarb root on regular basis. Chronic constipation can be caused by insufficient water intake
(sodas and coffee do not hydrate your body) as well as lack of fiber. Acidophilus balance can
also be an issue in constipation or diarrhea.
Dang Gui (sometimes referred to as “women’s ginseng”) is an excellent blood tonifier and can
help with pain. It is also rich in phytohormones. Cook it in rice or soup. It has a unique
astringent flavor and smell.
Dandelion greens decongest the liver and can be used for PMS and cramps.
Tien Chi Powder (Shu Tien Qi Fen) is the same as Yun Nan Bai Yao, and is an excellent pain
herb. (It contains only one herb – radix notoginseng.)
Injuries
As long as there are no open wounds, use the liniment Tieh Ta Yao Gin, which can also be drunk.
It smells strongly like wine, and will discolor the skin. Though it washes off the skin easily, it
does not wash off clothes as easily. Wait a minute or so until it dries before putting clothes on
the area.
If there is bleeding use Yun Nan Bai Yao powder – this is a Chinese miracle herb (radix
notoginseng, not the same as regular ginseng) which is used to both stop bleeding and to
eliminate pain. Soldiers, and many people, in China carry Yun Nan Bai Yao in case they are
injured. We recommend you carry some with you in your purse and glove compartment.
Frankincense (Ru Xiang) and myrrh (Mo Yao) are excellent pain relievers (they are the main
ingredients in Tieh Ta Yao Gin).
Insomnia
Emperor’s Tea (Tian Wan Bu Xin Wan), Suan Zao Ren Tang, and An Mien Pian, are all good
medicines for insomnia. However, we find that insomnia sufferers benefit more from
decoctions, of the same formulas, rather than pills.
Siberian Ginseng and the syrup Wu Jia Shen are also helpful.
Ginseng (Ren Shen which means root of humanity) is the most well known adaptogen. It is used
as a tonic and is favored by people with fatigue. We believe that overuse of ginseng can weaken
the adrenals, especially ginseng tinctures. It is also important that you get good quality ginseng
(which is hard to ascertain in tincture form). The white, unadulterated form is best, as the red
form (“Korean ginseng”) is treated to create a much warmer herb which is less appropriate in
milder climates such as in California. The white ginseng is called Bai Shen (white root), and can
be bought in herbal stores in thin slices. The whiter it is, the higher its quality. Many Chinese
merchants will encourage you to buy the larger roots. This is not necessary.
Ginseng was originally prescribed for the very sick. It is considered a life saving medicine.
With indiscriminate long-term use it is possible to get “overdose” signs, such as constriction,
tightness, constipation, and an increase in frequency of colds. These are the result of “over-
tonification” and will pass once you stop taking ginseng.
Siberian ginseng (Ci Wu Jia – Eleutherococcus or Acanthopanacis) and American Ginseng (Xi
Yang Shen) belong to a different family. American ginseng is milder, and not considered warm.
Siberian ginseng is considered to be a stronger adaptogen than the Chinese ginseng.
We have not seen unprocessed ginseng (of any variety) in health food stores, perhaps because of
its high price. However, Chinese stores do sell it.
Astragalus (Huang Qi) is an excellent immune system modulator. It regulates blood glucose
levels and fortifies the Qi (energy life-force). It can be cooked in rice and soups, but the actual
root is then taken out because it is too fibrous to eat. Astragalus is sold in the bulk sections of
Rainbow, Real Food, and Whole Foods. (It looks a little like a wooden tongue depressor.)
Schizandra (Wu Wei Zi) is an adaptogen which is famous for its ability restore liver function. It
also has an adaptive effect on blood glucose level. It is commonly used for nervous conditions
and insomnia as well. Schizandra is sold in the bulk section of Rainbow, Real Food, and Whole
Foods. It looks like a small purple berry (it is a seed).
Compassion allows us to transcend the feeling that our own pain and suffering are our own
private suffering and are not shared. When I have compassion for another being, I can see how
their pain is the same as my pain (at least potentially), and the natural conclusion is that my pain
can always find a match in the heart of another. Thus compassion gives a great deal more space
to our own suffering and can prevent negative feelings from arising.
Being in pain is being in a narrow place. It is like being in a dark and narrow alley with no light
in sight, all one can see or feel is thick darkness. Our pain and suffering act as the dark alley, not
allowing the light in. When I can only focus on my pain, I am focusing only on negative
feelings, allowing them to take over me. I am locking myself into the narrow place, and I am
unable to move on, unable to live fully. We often hold on to pain rather than transform it.
Holding on to pain brings us, time and time again, to the narrow place, the place that leads to
desperation.
We should never have to be in a narrow place, we always have the option to spread our wings
and create spaciousness. However, in some circumstances it has been very hard to avoid the trap
of the narrow place. We have already been there in the past. We hold on to the pain of the past,
and enter constriction and narrowness, because it is familiar. Sometimes we hold on to pain
because we have the illusion that pain is transformative or because we believe our pain defines
us. We re-live our pain when we are no longer confronting what caused us pain, yet we are
reliving our reactions: our shame and our vulnerability.
To let go of pain we need to forgive ourselves for having once been vulnerable in a negative or
destructive way. When we forgive ourselves for having once been vulnerable in a negative way,
we no longer need to re-live the pain and we can let go of the shame and the fear.
In order to be free, we must let go. To be willing to give up pain means that I am willing to
make the sacrifice (sacrificing the pain), and in order to do that I must forgive myself: I must
forgive myself for having been vulnerable in a negative way, for having once failed myself.
Once we let go, the flow of life can be reestablished. Forgiveness is letting go of the grasping
on to what blocks us in life. In order to be free, we must let go.
When we can forgive ourselves, we become free, free from the hold that the past exercises on us.
Through self-forgiveness we become less rigid. Once we exercise self-forgiveness, it becomes
easier to forgive others, removing further blocks in us, and avoiding the creation of blocks in the
future.
Developing Compassion
The Tibetan practice of Tonglen is a wonderful practice that develops our compassion.
Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and begin to focus your attention on your breath. Visualize in
front of you a person in great suffering. See clearly all of his or her pain and suffering. Allow
the pain and suffering to manifest as black heavy smoke. As you breathe in, breathe in the black
smoke of the other person’s suffering. Bring the smoke into your heart, allowing it to
intermingle with your own suffering and pride. As your breath changes into an outbreath, allow
the black smoke to be transformed into a bright, white, healing, and radiating light. With your
outbreath send the white healing light to your suffering friend. Breathe in again the black heavy
smoke of suffering, and breathe out the white, healing light. Keep doing this until the black
smoke begins to disperse and is totally lifted, and your friend is fully surrounded by the white
light, becoming one with the light, radiating white-healing light.
This exercise can be done first with a very close friend or family member or with oneself, then
with friends who are less close, and ultimately with people who we consider to be enemies. It
can also be done with situations and not just with individuals.
This is not an imagery exercise but rather a visualization meditation, and can take much longer
than the other quicker imagery exercises.
1. Breathe out three times. Look in a mirror and see yourself holding on to a pain that is not yet
forgiven. Turn the mirror around. You realize that it is a two-sided mirror: now see yourself
forgiving. Breathe out, and open your eyes.
2. Breathe out three times. You are jogging down a path. To your right is a grassy area, and
then a stream of running water. Feel the sun and the air. Beside you is the one who has
caused you pain. Keep jogging together. Come to a stop and sit close to the water – sit
facing each other.
Sitting in front of the person who caused you pain, pick out arrows of pain out of your heart,
explain to them what the arrow means, how it got there, who put it there. Then cast the
arrow into the clear fast-running water, and both of you observe it being carried away.
Keep pulling out arrows, one by one, and explain what they mean, how they got there, who
put it there, and cast the arrow into the stream. When you are finished, rest.
Make sure there are no more arrows in your heart. If there is one more arrow, pull it out,
explain it (what, how, who) and throw it in the water. Breathe out once.
Now the person in front of you is pulling arrows out of his or her heart. Let them explain to
you what the pain is, who placed it there and how. Observe the arrows with them as they are
swept away by the water. When they stop, allow them to search for one last arrow.
Both of you get up and return to the jogging path. Go on jogging. You arrive at an
intersection. Keep jogging, either parting or continuing on the same path.
Transport yourself to an island. It is surrounded by water. It is sunny. Lie on the grass and
allow the sun to heal the wounds of your heart. Breathe out, and slowly open your eyes.
3. Breathe out three times. You are cleaning and fixing your house, going from room to room,
cleaning, clearing, arranging. Transport yourself to a country path in a meadow near a forest.
You are wearing white or blue. As you come close to the forest and approach the first line of
trees you see those who have caused you pain coming out of the forest from behind the trees,
coming out one at a time. Breathe out.
Approach them. Identify each one of these people and approach them one by one. Ask each
one why they caused you grief. Ask them what makes you vulnerable to them. Hear their
answers. Look at each one straight in the eye and see them disappear. When you have
encountered the last person, breathe out.
Walk through the trees to a clearing in the center of the forest. Feel the warmth of the sun
shining through the trees. Smell the flowers and listen to the sounds of life around you.
Part from your ancestors and ride the outgoing tide to where the sea meets the sky. Rest
there in the rays of the sun. Ride the incoming tide back to shore. Pick a grain of sand and
turn it in your hand until you feel it has transformed to something. Open your hand and see
what you are holding. Breathe out and slowly open your eyes.
These are three separate exercises that need not be done in sequence. Use the ones that seem to
help you the most.
Thus, healing is a process of transformation: transforming the narrow, obstructed, and congested
into spaciousness, flow, and openness. The character for transformation in Chinese (Hua) is
made up of the character for a person with the head down and feet up. In other words, change
and transformation is allowing the world, or the self, to be upside down. In transformation we let
go of our habits, of our notions, and allow them, if necessary, to be turned inside out, upside
down. Transformation requires that we take the risk that we might find ourselves upside down.
To be able to take that risk, we must let go of our assumptions of what is the right side up.
It is possible to have not been cured, to have not “fixed” the problem, and yet to have been
transformed and healed. An example of this is when a family member is very ill and begins the
death journey. The whole family might come together and begin anew. Forgiveness,
acceptance, and love might be rediscovered. The beloved family member dies, yet a lot of
healing has taken place, even though we did not fix what seemed to have been the problem.
In the process of healing we accept that some things cannot be fixed and that we are not in
control.
Clarity
Another aspect of healing is clarity. Arriving at greater clarity is a healing process. We need to
ask and answer these three questions:
1. who am I?
2. where am I going?
3. how am I going to get there?
or alternately (option 3-b), who am I going to get there with?
When we can answer with full integrity the question of who I am, and then the question of where
I am going, we gain tremendous freedom. Answering these questions without conveniently
skipping to the third, which looks at the means only, liberates us from the suffering of attachment
to the means, and allows us to connect deeply to our true selves.
Sometimes we have a simple shoulder pain. We went skiing, and fell on our shoulder, and it is
not healing. Perhaps the pain keeps us awake at night, or we are unable to do the things we want
to do. Removing the pain can be a great act of healing. We can now transform our lack of sleep,
our obsession with pain, and become clearer, more focused, able to live life more happily. This
may not be considered to be healing on a high spiritual level, but on some level it is. When I am
caught in pain, I am far less likely to fulfill my path in life. Removing the pain helps me live life
more fully.
The same shoulder pain, however, might also prompt me to start to look at my life. Perhaps I
decide it is a metaphor for other life issues, or perhaps the pain simply prompted me to seek a
practitioner who will get rid of the pain and, in the process, reflect to me some other problems
that I have. In this case there is an intention behind getting rid of the pain that is beyond the
pain. This intention can foster further awareness and transformation than simply removing the
pain, and facilitates a far more meaningful experience.
It is impossible to separate our health from our environment. We are interwoven with our
physical, emotional, intellectual, and social environment. If we want to be healthy, we need to
make sure our surroundings are healthy and health inspiring. Our health depends on the support
we get from our community. If we are constantly battling some factor or another in our
community and we are at odds with our environment, then we cannot truly create and sustain
health within ourselves.
We may not be able to easily influence global community factors. We know that the cutting
down of rain forests affects our health, yet we feel powerless to change this. We know our water
sources are polluted, and all we are able to do is get a water purifier. We know the congestion in
our streets, and we feel we have reached our limit by merely avoiding it. Indeed, we may not be
able to change every unhealthy factor in our life, but we can make steps towards healing
ourselves, our community, and our planet. These are not three separate entities. They closely
depend and reflect one another.
We can take simple steps. Smiling to another person on the bus is acknowledging their
humanity. How often have we failed to do this simple act, even while we interact with them
directly? Planting trees and flowers in our neighborhood brings us together and enables us to
appreciate the beauty in life. Helping others who are in need takes the edge off our fears of
being unsupported when we might be needy. Studies have shown clear health benefits for
elderly living in care facilities or hospitals and who are regularly visited by children or animals.
When we feel lonely, unsupported, anxious, frustrated, and we have no one to turn to, we turn to
food (any food) for comfort, we turn to television to shut our minds off, we turn to drugs. Little
by little we have become addicted to some unhealthy activity; we gain weight, we become bored
with our lives, we smoke, we drink excess amounts of alcohol. We lose the ability to care for
each other. We find it more and more difficult to exercise compassion, our hearts become more
congested, and we feel an even stronger need to exercise our unhealthy behavior in order to
escape the growing loneliness and isolation.
Our theme is not one of social change, but we cannot ignore the strong connection between
disease and lack of community. In our culture we have lost our sense of community. As a result,
we are encountering a plague of loneliness, isolation, fears, frustrations. Being lonely and
isolated seems to be the lot of so many of us. We feel we are unheard, unwanted, unworthy. We
need the support of our communities to help us overcome these unhealthy feelings.
Psychotherapists can help us understand our congestive states of mind, but they cannot replace
what we have lost. Only a functioning community that cares for, and supports, each other can do
that. Building community is one road toward health.
Implement Now:
Start with these right away. The sooner you get around to them, the healthier you will feel.
These are the very basics. It takes almost no time to implement these. Where reduction is called
upon, start slowly and build up with time to the point where you have basically eliminated sugar,
dairy, and fatty foods from your diet, while allowing yourself an occasional indulgence (once a
week or less).
AIR:
WATER:
Do not drink ice cold drinks. Drink room temperature water, or warm water (or tea)
Do not drink sodas or cokes. Drink water, tea, or juice when you are thirsty
REST:
Take just a few minutes each day to release all tensions by doing a body scan
FOOD:
Eat your food cooked rather than raw: slightly steam or stir-fry your vegetables
Reduce your consumption of processed foods. Cooking is a lot more fun than you think
LIGHT:
Minimize your exposure to computers, cellular phones, and other electronic instruments
EXERCISE:
Mobilize your joints and stretch for 10-15 minutes each day
Remove postural blocks by consciously reminding yourself of any bad habits (slouching)
Keep reminding yourself to allow your back to lengthen and widen
When you are about to get stressed take three conscious breaths
When you are caught in stress, take two to three minutes for walking meditation
Communicate with your inner world, and confront your life issues
Create imagery to help you look at root causes and avenues for solutions
Develop a meditation routine and join others who seek greater awareness
Set time aside to be on your own and to commune with God, nature, or the spirits
It is not important that you implement every item on this list. What is important is that you look
at your life honestly and determine what elements are of benefit to you. Once you determined
those, start with those which are easier for you. Do not set yourself up for failure by starting
with the one item that is hardest for you. Once you pick an item, exercise discipline and stick to
it. Do not be discouraged by failure. Pick yourself up and start again. If you find that you keep
stumbling and failing on a certain item, let it go for a little while and pick it up later. If you still
find yourself unable to handle the item, it may be time to seek help.